Trump and Harris are locked in dead heat in new poll
A new national poll has Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump in a dead heat with three weeks until Election Day.
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The NBC News national poll of 1,000 likely voters has Harris and Trump deadlocked at 48% each.
The remaining 4% are people who don't want to vote for either candidate or are undecided.
It's a bit of a shift from a month ago, when Harris led Trump 49% to 44% in the same poll.
"As summer has turned to fall, any signs of momentum for Kamala Harris have stopped," Democratic pollster Jeff Horwitt, who conducted the survey with Republican pollster Bill McInturff, told NBC News. "The race is a dead heat."
When voters consider an expanded ballot with third-party candidates, the poll shows Trump gets the edge with 47% versus 46% for Harris. Another 7% are undecided or picking other candidates.
Again, it's a change from a month ago when Harris held a 6-point lead on the expanded ballot -- 47% to 41%.
It should come as no surprise then that the poll also found a significant change in Harris' popularity. In September, the vice president's rating was at 48% positive, 45% negative. But now, the latest poll shows Harris' popularity at 43% positive, 49% negative. NBC noted that the decline was driven mainly by independents and young voters.
Meantime, Trump scored his highest positive rating in the poll since he left office -- 43% positive, 51% negative. It's a slight improvement since last month, when his popularity was at 40% positive, 53% negative.
The poll found abortion (22%) is the top issue voters feel so strongly about that they would vote for or against a candidate solely on that issue. Other responses, with multiple allowed, were:
• Immigration/border security (19%)
• Protecting democracy or constitutional rights (18%)
• Cost of living (16%)
• Israel's military conflict against Hamas and Hezbollah (9%)
• Guns (8%)
• Health care (7%)
• Social Security and Medicare (6%)
When it comes to handling some of the key issues, voters seem to have more confidence in the vice president, who scored higher on six of nine issues.
According to the poll, Harris' best issue versus Trump was abortion (19-point lead over Trump on handling the issue), health care (+10) and being competent and effective (+5).
On the other hand, Trump's top issues and qualities are dealing with the border (+25), handling the situation in the Middle East (+18) and dealing with the cost of living (+11).
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