Here’s how US Democrats are divided on the economy and energy
What emerges from a Reuters poll on the divisions in the US Democratic Party
The US Democratic Convention, at the end of which Kamala Harris will be officially crowned as the presidential candidate, opens today with all sails in full swing. A few weeks after Joe Biden's resignation and less than eighty days before the elections, enthusiasm dominates in an electoral campaign blessed by favorable polls, packed squares and an avalanche of donations.
But according to both Democratic and Republican pollsters and electoral strategists, whom Reuters consulted in an in-depth study published a few hours ago, this undeniable honeymoon could soon run out and give way to a turbulent phase in which Harris will have to deal , among other things, with the strong divisions within the party regarding the economy and the war in the Middle East as well as with a combative and never subdued Republican challenger ready to do battle on all fronts.
PARTY DIVIDED ON ECONOMY AND ENERGY
Harris began to lay out her economic prescriptions last Friday in a speech full of expensive promises that hinted at the progressive currents of the party.
And here lies the first problems for Harris, who if she wanted to continue flirting with the more social and ecological wing of the Dems could be forced to completely avoid addressing a crucial topic such as energy, leaving her rival's side exposed .
As Reuters itself underlined in a previous report, on energy matters Harris' electoral campaign seems to focus on a sort of strategic ambiguity which sees her committed to avoiding displeasing both the many Americans worried about climate change and those who do not demonize fossil energy.
The one reported by CBS News therefore does not appear to be a coincidence, i.e. Trump's dominance over Harris in the polls both on economic issues in general and among voters who declare they have financial problems.
The other problem for the Dem candidate highlighted by the polls recalled by CBS News is that voters tend not to make a distinction between Harris' economic proposals and the so-called Bidenomics, which as is known has never convinced significant parts of the electorate.
DOSSIER GAZA AND ISRAEL
The issue of the conflict in Gaza could also drain Harris's support and the Chicago Convention itself will highlight the danger.
As Reuters reports, over two hundred organizations and acronyms will march today in the US metropolis, a few steps from the great democratic party, to ask for a clear discontinuity which includes, among other things, something that the candidate has already strictly excluded, namely the cessation of American military supplies to Israel.
THE QUESTION OF SKILLS
The love affair between Harris and the Americans could end soon also for the reasons highlighted to Reuters by Republican pollster Adam Geller.
Beyond the fascinating hypothesis of the first female and black president, notes Geller, “it will be the big issues that will ultimately decide these elections. And these issues include inflation, security, leadership and the global stage”, i.e. all aspects in which Harris presents a weak profile and where in some cases she even has an advantage over her rival Trump.
Further improving the tycoon's prospects is the fact reported by the polls commented by CBS News that while nine out of ten Americans know Trump's ideas perfectly, only a third know what the challenger thinks and what her positions are.
HARRIS CAPITAL
Beyond these handicaps, however, Harris will not have to waste the substantial political capital with which she appears to be endowed at the moment and which is well evidenced by favorable polls.
However, the image of a united party behind the candidate of Indian origins that emerges from the stories of recent days could soon give way to unprecedented splits. As Reuters highlights, unlike what happened for Biden in 2020, the minorities of which the Democratic Party claims to be champion appear much less galvanized than then.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/ecco-come-i-democratici-usa-sono-divisi-su-economia-ed-energia/ on Mon, 19 Aug 2024 07:09:04 +0000.