MADISON (WKOW) -- Reactions are pouring in from experts, surrogates, and viewers as former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris challenged each other on key policy issues like abortion, inflation, and immigration in Tuesday's presidential debate. The two candidates' focus on the debate stage was making their case to voters with less than eight weeks until the presidential election.
A CNN poll released Wednesday shows Harris winning the debate 63% to 37% among debate watchers. A YouGov poll shows the vice president winning 54% to 31% among registered voters, but how much Harris' and Trump's debate performances could impact the race is still an open question as debate victories don't always translate into election wins.
The latest Marquette Law School poll released on Wednesday shows Vice President Harris leading former President Trump, 52% to 48% among registered voters. The poll showed the same margin of support among likely voters as well.
Of the 822 registered voters surveyed in Wisconsin, 48% said Vice President Harris would win this year's election, while 41% said former President Donald Trump would win. Eleven percent of survey participants said they were unsure or did not know which candidate would take home the victory in November.
"Don't know who's going to win, but we do see a real shift here. Remember also for timing that that previous poll was the week after the RNC. It was after Harris had gotten in the race and Biden had dropped out, but it was before the Democratic convention," said Charles Franklin, Marquette Law School Poll Director, during a presentation at the university's Eckstein Hall. "Convention bounces, as I was saying, are usually the biggest after the second convention. There's a little bit of a rise here, so possibly that's a convention bounce on Harris' behalf. In Trump's case, you had the convention and, of course, the assassination attempt, but then that immediately got stepped on by Biden's withdrawing and Harris entering the race."
With independent and third-party candidates factored into the race, Harris' lead over Trump decreased by about 5% among registered voters. Robert F. Kennedy, who ended his presidential bid, received about 6%.
"Independents are having a hard time getting excited about this race. It's not unusual for independents to be less engaged because they're not partisan," Franklin said. "They don't follow politics as closely as partisans do, but we did see enthusiasm for independents tick up in July, but this time it's ticked back down, so stay tuned."
The poll shows enthusiasm was the highest among Democrats at 72%, with Vice President Harris leading the Democratic ticket. Enthusiasm to cast their ballot in this year's election for Republicans was 63%, and Independents who were enthusiastic about voting in November was just over 30%.
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