Who Is Kamala Harris? Deeper Insights Into the Persuadables Who Will Decide the 2024 Election
Persuadables May Decide the Presidency
Two weeks ago, the presidential election landscape seemed unchangeable, with most voters firmly supporting their chosen candidate. National polls showed Trump holding a 6-point lead over Biden. Today, the political scene has shifted dramatically. President Biden has exited the race, endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris, who is now poised to become the Democratic nominee for president.
The Republicans’ once solid 6-point lead has now dwindled to a mere one-point advantage. A significant portion of the electorate is now undecided, torn between supporting Trump or Harris. These voters, known as ‘persuadables,’ make up 13% of the US electorate. With the rest of the electorate largely set in their choices, these persuadables are likely to be the key to deciding the next president. So the question is: how will these voters make their decision?
In partnership with renowned polling group Siena College Research Institute (SCRI), we used Engage, CloudResearch’s revolutionary AI-driven survey and interviewing platform to interview several hundred Persuadables about their assessments of both Harris and Trump on six leadership traits – the ability to unify the country, if they have a suitable temperament to be president, if the candidate cares about people ‘like me’, if the candidate will bring about the right kind of change, who is more intelligent, and who is the stronger leader.
The insights from these interviews reveal a complicated and challenging decision for these voters. Below are some interviews that provide a detailed picture of what these persuadables are thinking. For a comprehensive analysis of this data, be sure to check out the full write-up at scri.siena.edu.
To provide more insight into the sentiment of the Persuadables, our research team at CloudResearch has selected example interview transcripts that stood out to us:
Here’s one interview with a 37 year old non-binary Republican who sees both pros and cons for both candidates:
Here’s another interview from a White, 50 year old woman who’s a Democrat with mixed views of Harris and Trump:
In this interview, we have a White, 29 year old man who’s an Independent who seems to rate Harris higher on most traits:
This interview is with a White, 52 year old woman who is an Independent. While her feelings towards the candidates are both good and bad, she will wait to see them debate to decide:
Here’s a Republican woman with a nuanced view of Harris and is waiting to see if she has what it takes:
In this interview, a 39 year old Black man who is a Democrat expresses his beliefs that both candidates could be effective:
Persuadables Face a Crucial Decision: Harris or Trump in the Upcoming Election
Interviews like these paint a complicated story for the upcoming election. If the persuadables are to decide who will win, then they will have to pick a side: Harris or Trump. While persuadables believe that Trump has demonstrated his strong leadership ability, they also view Harris positively and are willing to give her a chance to show her strength.
About CloudResearch
CloudResearch is an online platform that connects researchers with more than 100 million research participants worldwide. CloudResearch provides tools to carry out complex online projects and polls for the academic, public, and private sectors. Engage is CloudResearch’s latest research innovation, using AI to combine the power of traditional and conversational surveys at scale cloudresearch.com.
Contact: Leib Litman, PhD, CloudResearch, Chief Research Officer leib.litman@cloudresearch.com
About the Siena College Research Institute
Founded in 1980, the Siena College Research Institute conducts regional, statewide and national surveys on business, economic, political, voter, social, academic and historical issues. Recognized as one of the premier polling centers in the nation, the Siena College Research Institute has achieved an exceptional A+ rating from FiveThirtyEight and in both 2022 and 2023, was honored as the number one polling institute in the United States by the same outlet for its unparalleled accuracy and commitment to excellence.
Contact: Don Levy, Ph.D., Director, Siena College Research Institute, 518-783-2901, dlevy@siena.edu
