The Harris Surge: Is It More Than Just Inflation?

When Biden was the presidential candidate, high inflation negatively impacted his polling numbers, allowing Trump to take the lead. However, after Biden dropped out and Harris became the Democratic candidate, her poll numbers surged ahead of Trump`s despite inflation remaining relatively unchanged. This begs the question: why is Harris seemingly not being penalized for inflation while Biden was? Some theorize that voters place more blame on the president for a struggling economy than the vice president. Others believe Biden`s declining popularity might be due to personal reasons rather than solely economic factors. Regardless of the reason, Harris currently benefits from not carrying the burden of Biden`s negative performance. This was also observed in the 2022 midterm elections where Democrats performed better than expected despite high inflation.