Harris’s ‘Honeymoon’ phase persists, yet no poll bump after Convention Kamala hype

Vice President Kamala Harris continues to experience a “honeymoon” period in the 2024 election, even though her lead over Donald Trump hasn’t grown following her speech at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago.

According to a Morning Consult survey conducted with 7,818 registered voters in the days after Harris’s Chicago speech, she holds a four-point lead over Trump [48 percent to 44 percent]. This margin is tied for the largest lead Harris has maintained since entering the 2024 race after President Joe Biden decided not to seek reelection. However, there was no noticeable boost in her polling numbers following the DNC speech on August 22.

Despite this, the survey indicates that Harris’s “media honeymoon” is ongoing, with 47 percent of voters reporting that they have heard mainly positive news stories about the vice president in the past week, compared to 32 percent who have heard mainly negative stories.

This marks the fifth consecutive week in which more voters have reported hearing positive news about Harris than negative, with the current 15-point margin being her best net buzz rating in weekly surveys since November 2022.

In contrast, 46 percent of voters said they have heard mainly negative news about Trump in the past week, while 31 percent reported hearing mainly positive coverage of the former president. This is an improvement for Trump from his net negative 20-point media positivity score at the start of August.

Discussing the political “buzz” surrounding the 2024 Democratic nominee, Morning Consult’s Cameron Easley and Eli Yokley noted, “The type of information voters heard about Harris previously aligned with what they were hearing about Biden, but since she became the Democratic nominee, her net buzz rating now surpasses both Trump’s and Biden’s by double digits.”

Both Harris’s and Trump’s teams have been contacted for comment via email.