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Harvard Harris Poll Debrief with Mark Penn and Bob Cusack

Presidential Pollster shares insights from the the first post-election survey conducted by Harvard CAPS/ Harris Poll, fielded Nov. 17-19 among 2,205 registered voters.
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A solid majority of the country — 65 percent — believes Joe Biden won the election. They also believe the election overall was fair and the counting of the ballots was fair. Today, fifty-eight percent of voters want president Trump to concede the election to president-elect Joe Biden.

But the public would like to see election reforms going forward. Only 29 percent want another election run like this one, and a third of the country still believes that the election was stolen with as many as 40 to 45 percent that there were some irregularities such as ballot harvesting. Voters would like much tighter procedures on mail-in ballots, and to have ballots tabulated within three days of the election; they oppose allowing open-ended periods for mailed ballots to arrive

The post-election poll also sends some clear political messages: the biggest issue was, unsurprisingly, the coronavirus. Coronavirus fears trumped the economy, and ultimately President Trump. Biden overwhelmingly won over the voters most concerned with the virus, which suggests that, on Day 1, the new president should focus entirely on the measures that will bring it to an end — organizing a strong task force, getting economic stimulus done if this Congress fails to act, and distributing vaccines. Forty percent of those polled said the first thing they want Biden to do is to pass economic stimulus, and 33 percent said to get the vaccine out. Nothing else reached double-digits as a concern.

At the same time, continued economic improvement and the announcement of a vaccine sent Trump’s approval rating over 50 percent for the first time in years of polling. Despite the rising coronavirus cases fifty-four percent of voters today say they want their states to try to manage the situation while remaining open, indicating both Covid fatigue and an economic need to move on. Republicans in Congress did better because House speaker Pelosi held up the much-wanted stimulus bill rather than accept a $1.8 trillion compromise and because House and Senate Republicans were not associated with the president’s weak virus strategy. Therefore, it’s no surprise, then, that a majority of voters say they want Republicans to remain in control of the Senate in the new year after the Georgia runoff races.

The political tension between managing the virus and the economy is likely to continue well into the new administration, and we will continue to track the sentiments of voters as well. As always feel free to email me with questions as you work through the findings, and I invite you to read my commentary for the Hill.

My podcast on the polls can be followed at www.MARKPENNPOLLS.com (full episode) or any of the following channels:

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