WTH Are Americans Thinking About November? Mark Penn Explains His Newest Data

Super Tuesday wrapped up as predicted, with Trump sweeping the
GOP win and Haley dropping out. Barring a meteorite, this means
we are locked into a Trump-Biden rematch. But the newest
Harvard-Harris CAPS poll reveals an America that is not as
certain as primary voting behavior suggests – overwhelmingly,
they profess a desire for a non-Biden non-Trump choice at the
polls. For voters, immigration has become a national priority,
even in states (Alaska) that are nowhere close to the southern
border. Meanwhile, inflation, which affects everyone, has moved
farther down in voters’ anxieties. And then there’s the large
majority of voters who are comfortable marking on a poll that
they believe Trump is a felon or that Biden is incompetent, but
then vote for them anyway. This week, we try to get some clarity
about these puzzling contradictions.


Mark Penn is the chairman of the Harris Poll, as well as leading
research companies including the National Research Group, Harris
Insights & Analytics and HarrisX. He is the co-founder of the
Harvard-Harris Poll, a monthly poll on key public opinion topics
crucial to Americans like taxes and healthcare. He's also the
president and managing partner of the Stagwell Group, a private
equity fund. He previously held senior executive roles with
Microsoft, WPP, and senior strategic roles on electoral campaigns
for President Bill Clinton, Senator Hillary Clinton, and Prime
Minister Tony Blair.


Download the transcript here.


Read the WTH substack here.


Check out Mark Penn's poll here.