“It’s a horrible affront to American democracy,” said John Fisher, 71, a retiree in the pivotal swing area of Delaware County, Pa., outside Philadelphia, and a registered Republican who is supporting Ms. Harris. “It’s a disgrace.”
Mr. Trump’s distancing aside, 71 percent of those who have heard of Project 2025 said they believed that the former president would try to enact some or most of the policies that it espouses.
Working in Mr. Trump’s favor is the fact that voters remain largely pessimistic about the direction of the country. Just 30 percent of likely voters said the country was on the right track, largely unchanged since July. But among voters who thought the country was headed in the wrong direction, 71 percent were optimistic that things would get back on the right track, an improvement since 2022, when voters were more pessimistic about the nation’s direction.
Democrats do have a slight edge when it comes to enthusiasm for voting: 91 percent of Democrats said they were enthusiastic, compared with 85 percent of Republicans.
[Follow the latest polls and see updated polling averages of the Harris vs. Trump matchup.]
“Oh, heavens, when it was Biden and Trump, it was the first time in my entire life I was like, I don’t know if I can vote this year,” said Carol Ploeger, 68, of Provo, Utah, who added that she would be voting for a Democratic presidential candidate for the first time in her life. “I feel like she’s got new blood, she’s younger, she knows what the American people need because she came from humble beginnings.”
