OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are locked in a tight race as November’s presidential election nears.
This scenario has inspired economist and former CIA advisor Jim Rickards to offer his thoughts on what the country may expect from a Harris presidency.
According to several important indicators that Rickards has outlined, if Kamala Harris is elected president, the U.S. economy may encounter serious difficulties. This also comes as polling has shifted dramatically in Trump’s favor.
Rickards listed a few things, which are as follows:
Market Volatility: The financial markets are currently experiencing heightened volatility, reflecting investor uncertainty about the future. A Harris presidency could amplify these concerns, especially if her policies are perceived as unpredictable or overly progressive, leading to further market instability.
Rising National Debt: The U.S. national debt is already at unprecedented levels, and Harris’ potential policy initiatives, which may include expanded social programs and infrastructure spending, could exacerbate this burden. Without careful fiscal management, the increased debt could strain the economy and limit her administration’s ability to respond to economic downturns.
Inflation Pressures: Inflation has been a growing concern, and Harris may face difficulties in curbing rising prices. Her administration’s potential focus on wage growth and social equity could inadvertently fuel inflation, making it harder to maintain price stability without stifling economic growth.
Deepening Political Division: The country is more politically divided than ever, and Harris’ presidency might deepen these divisions, particularly if her policies are seen as favoring certain groups over others. This could lead to gridlock in Congress, making it challenging to pass legislation necessary to stabilize the economy and address pressing issues.
Based on all of these signs, the Harris administration is going to have to deal with a challenging and uncertain economic environment.
This comes as Trump looks to have made impressive gains over Harris, gaining roughly 14 points among independents and 19 points among Latino voters.
According to new polling from NPR/PBS News/Marist, Trump has surpassed Harris by three points among independents in a multi-candidate race, 49% to 46%. This represents a considerable increase since August, when Trump trailed Harris, 59, by 11 points, 48% to 37%.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who had received 12% of the vote in the previous survey, withdrew from the contest and endorsed Trump in the interim between the August and September polls. Furthermore, Harris’s “honeymoon” following her sudden ascent to the nomination has started to level out.
In August, Trump led Harris by fifteen points, 54% to 39%, among Latino voters; by now, Trump leads by four points, with 51% of the vote to Harris’s 47%.
“Only single digits separate the candidates on most issues important to voters. But voters who value honesty are overwhelmingly for Harris, and voters looking for strong leadership are mostly in Trump’s corner. Will this still be the case on Wednesday morning?”
According to the poll, almost 70% of Americans said they would watch the debate, and 30% of registered voters think it would influence their decision on who to support. However, 69% of respondents say it probably won’t be beneficial.
Trump’s campaign got another round of good news on Tuesday in the form of a stunning new survey showing him surging ahead of Harris in the battleground state of North Carolina.
The survey, which collected responses from 1,042 likely voters, revealed that 51 percent of North Carolinians intend to support Trump in the 2024 presidential race, while 46 percent favor Harris.
Rasmussen Reports and American Thinker, a conservative online magazine, conducted the poll between October 9 and October 14.
The survey indicates that Trump holds one of his largest leads in the Tar Heel State, just three weeks ahead of Election Day. North Carolina has the potential to become a tipping-point state in November, and overall polling has shown that the contest between Harris and Trump is one of the closest battles this election season.
According to the Rasmussen poll, voters identified the economy as the top issue influencing their choice for the Oval Office. The second most crucial issue was abortion, then border security.
When asked which issue is “the most important one for the next president to solve” among four options—abortion rights, illegal immigration, rising prices, and protecting our democracy—voters in the survey released Tuesday chose immigration as their primary concern (29 percent), followed by rising prices (24 percent), protecting democracy (23 percent), and abortion rights (22 percent), Newsweek reported, citing the data.
The majority of respondents (70 percent) expressed a desire for the next president to bring about a “major change.” Additionally, over three-quarters (77 percent) of likely voters surveyed stated that their choice for president is based on “support” for a candidate rather than the desire to “keep one candidate from winning.”
Tracking from FiveThirtyEight finds that Trump is up by 0.9 points across statewide polls in North Carolina, leading Harris 48.2 percent to 47.3 percent on average, Newsweek reported.
Trump led Harris by 3 points in the Tar Heel State in a survey by The Washington Post from September 25 to September 29, which included responses from 1,001 registered voters.
Meanwhile, a poll by ActiVote conducted from September 7 to October 6, surveying 400 likely voters, showed Harris leading by 2 points, with 51 percent compared to Trump’s 49 percent.
If the Rasmussen survey is any indication, it appears that support for Trump has significantly increased since Hurricane Helene devastated the state and complaints about the Biden-Harris administration’s slow FEMA response.
For the first time, a noted election prediction model has shifted to “lean” toward Trump after weeks of indicating that the race was a “toss-up.”
The change results from a series of new polling data suggesting that Harris’s national lead has diminished or vanished entirely.
Additionally, multiple swing states now show the former president holding a narrow lead in most of the battlegrounds that will ultimately determine the outcome of the next election, the UK’s DailyMail.com reported.
The outlet teamed with J.L. Partners to create an election model that now gives Trump a nearly 63 percent chance of winning.