Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) took on the frontrunner, former Vice President Joe Biden, at last week's Democratic presidential debates, and a new poll shows that it may have paid off.
During the debate, Harris notably went after Biden for his nostalgia over working with segregationists in the Senate and his past opposition to busing for school integration.
In a new post-debate poll from CNN, Harris saw a 9 percent bump, now polling at 17 percent nationally, while Biden, saw a 10 percent decline, now polling at 22 percent.
Similarly, a post-debate poll from Morning Consult shows Harris gaining to land at 12 percent, which leaves her tied for third with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). In that poll, Biden lost five points, still leaving him in the lead with 33 percent.
"Kamala Harris was the perfect foil for Joe Biden here, because one of the things that she did show is that she is tough and she could handle that," Patrick Murrary, Director of Monmouth University's Polling Center told Cheddar Politics Monday.
Murray says that this decline was expected following Biden's poor performance, despite weeks of solid numbers attributed to his nearly universal name recognition.
"A lot of Democratic voters are just starting to tune into this race," Murray said. "So, they really don't know these candidates, except by reputation. That's part of the reason why Joe Biden's been in the lead."
After the debates wrapped up, Harris' campaign announced the California Senator raised more than $2 million from small donors in the 24 hours following her performance.
Murray said the jump in the polls following her viral takedown of Biden's dicey past wasn't about race, but rather, shows that she has what it takes to rival the incumbent, which could give some Biden supporters pause as they cite his electability.
"Most of Joe Biden's supporters are older, they are more conservative than the rest of the party, they really couldn't care less whether he's woke or not on issues of race," Murray explained. "What they want to know is that he can handle the campaign, and what they're hearing from the media right now is that he didn't handle that well."
While Harris took a big jump forward, candidates like Mayor Pete Buttigieg and former Texas Congressman Beto O'Rourke went downhill. O'Rourke actually fell from 4 to 2 percent in the Morning Consult poll.
"Beto O'Rourke, I think, had the worst night out of the two," Murray said of the candidate, adding that he thinks the former Texas Congressman will ultimately "fade."
Despite the drop in the polls, Buttigieg announced Monday that his campaign reeled in nearly $25 million in donations during the second quarter of the campaign, tripling the amount raised in the first quarter.
Though many political junkies remain skeptical of early polling in the race to 2020, Murray said their importance is significantly different than past years because they are driving the narrative.
Other major 2020 polls ー as well as Q2 fundraising numbers ー are expected to drop throughout the week.
David Nelson, Chief Strategist at Belpointe, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he says that Wednesday's market movement shows a rotation back into the industries that were hit hard in January, but says his eyes are firmly fixed on the January CPI data set to be released Thursday.
Russia is preparing alongside Belarus for reportedly one of the largest joint military exercises ever held. Some analysts are concerned this could be a disguise for a real attack, while the Kremlin contends that the exercise is meant to confront potential "unprecedented security threats." Christian Whiton, a former State Department senior advisor, joined Cheddar News to break down the still tense situation. "While it could of course be a prelude to invasion, it seems like the Biden administration is signaling that if you look at Europeans, the Germans and Macron … who just met with Putin, they seem to be thinking that maybe this is a show of force by Russia intended at political intimidation, not actual invasion," said Whiton.
Truckers in Canada have blockaded the Ambassador Bridge, the busiest border crossing between Canada and the U.S. protesting a COVID-19 vaccine mandate. Cheddar News spoke with Samir Kapadia, head of trade practice at the Vogal Group, about how this impacts trade between the two countries.
New York City is not only dealing with the ongoing pandemic, it’s also facing a surge in crime. President Biden recently traveled to New York to meet with the city’s new mayor, Eric Adams, to discuss the rise in crime and gun violence.
The president praised Mayor Adams' crimefighting agenda and unveiled a new federal initiative to curb the flow of illegal weapons from the south. Josefa Velásquez, Senior Reporter for THE CITY, joined Cheddar's Fast Forward to talk about how the mayor is battling this increase in crime in his first weeks in office.
The Democratic governors of New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, and Oregon say they will lift mask requirements for schools in the coming weeks, reflecting a nationwide shift away from restrictions. Cheddar News speaks with internist Dr. Vivek Cherian whether it's safe to relax the regulation.
Amazon warehouse workers in Alabama are set to begin voting to unionize for a second time after workers at the facility in the town of Bessemer overwhelmingly voted against forming a union during an election early last year; but in November, the National Labor Relations Board overturned the vote, upholding a union challenge of the results which argued that Amazon undermined the conditions for a fair election. Another round of ballots will now be mailed out to works at the warehouse for a so-called re-run election. Director of Labor and Employment Studies at San Francisco State University John Logan and National Field Director for Our Revolution Mike Oles joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
David Daley, author of the book 'Unrigged: How Americans Are Battling Back to Save Democracy,' joins Cheddar News to discuss redistricting battles taking place across the U.S.
