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.
Americans continue to feel the pain at the pump as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, joined Cheddar News to discuss how prices are being affected by the war and how much worse it could potentially get for drivers. "It's obviously a fluid situation. In one field today, I might feel differently in a half hour. But for now, I think we could see the national average realistically go somewhere into the mid $4 range, maybe $4.40 to $4.65 based on what we're seeing," he said.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has entered its 12th day following what Ukrainian authorities described as increased shelling of encircled cities and another failed attempt to evacuate civilians from the port city of Mariupol.
Gasoline prices are pushing even farther above $4 a gallon, the highest price that American motorists have faced since July 2008, as calls grow to ban imports of Russian oil.
Jay Hatfield, Chief Investment Officer at ICAP, believes a lot of the bad news regarding the fighting in Ukraine and Fed is already priced into the market and looming uncertainty factored into Friday's movement. However, he also believes the upcoming Fed decision will be good news for Wall Street.
News of Russian forces taking control of a Ukrainian after artillery bombardment of a nuclear power plant raised concerns this week. Nuclear policy expert and Quincy Institute Distinguished Fellow Joe Cirincione joined Cheddar News to discuss the implications for a potential disaster. “I’m with the director general of the IAEA, the International Atomic Energy Agency. He says that he is extremely concerned, and that this Russian attack is a severe risk and that Russia clearly violated the fundamental principle of preserving the integrity of nuclear power plants," Cirincione said.
Amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, major businesses from BP to Big Tech like Apple have been pausing their business dealings with the invading nation. Brian Walker, chief strategy officer at commerce software company Bloomreach, joined Cheddar News to discuss how some companies are showing support for Ukraine and what this could mean for consumers. "Whether it be impacts on energy or operational costs, shipping and logistics, or frankly impacts on the financial services industry, these will have long term implications on retail prices," he said.
About 678,000 jobs were created in February, hundreds of thousands more than predicted, according to the latest Labor Department report, showing a broad economic recovery despite inflation woes. Heather Boushey, member of the Council of Economic Advisers for President Biden, joined Cheddar News to talk about the employment figures. "This really shows that the economy is now more resilient because of the tools that we have in place," Boushey said. "So I'm optimistic that we'll be able to weather future storms."
Ramit Varma, Independent candidate for Mayor of Los Angeles, joins Cheddar News to discuss the race and how he plans to tackle critical issues in the California city.
