CNN anchor Chris Wallace said it would be a “miracle” if Kamala Harris won given the results of the network’s first exit polls, which revealed high levels of voter dissatisfaction with the country’s trajectory under the Biden Administration.
In the lead-in to a discussion of the exit polls, CNN Political Director David Chalian revealed that only 7 percent of voters were enthusiastic about how things are going in the U.S., while 43 percent said they were dissatisfied and 29 percent expressed anger. Fifty-eight percent of those polled disapproved of Biden’s performance as president.
CNN anchor Dana Bash suggested that it wasn’t clear which candidate, Donald Trump or the vice president, would bear the brunt of the blame in the eyes of dissatisfied voters.
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“Harris is part of the current administration,” she said, “but Donald Trump and the Trump era is very much upon us.”
Wallace interjected and said that he thought that take was “putting the best spin on it” for Harris.
Of the abysmal satisfaction numbers, Wallace said, “I think that that’s with the present conditions in the country. I mean, in conventional terms, it would be a miracle that Kamala Harris could win with that kind of headwind.”
“If she is able to overcome those numbers and still win this election, then she has done a remarkable job of somehow separating herself—that she’s part of the solution, and not part of the problem,” Wallace added.
CNN host Audie Cornish, responding to Wallace, was less ready to conclude that the exit poll results boded poorly for Harris, saying it was “still early in the night” to predict what those results could mean for the candidates.
In the days leading up to the election, Harris’ team had reportedly sought to distance the vice president’s image from Biden—and his poor approval rating and penchant for gaffes—even as he tried to campaign on her behalf.
Whether voters associate their dislike for Biden’s presidency with Harris will become clearer as Election Day enters the evening, polls begin to close, and the first votes are tallied.
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