Voters unconvinced by Kamala Harris’ policy flip-flops, new poll reveals

(The Daily Signal) – Voters aren’t buying Vice President Kamala Harris’ flip-flops on several key policy issues, according to a new Scott Rasmussen national survey.

The RMG Research poll, released Friday by the Napolitan News Service, asked 1,000 registered voters this week about the policy views of Harris on illegal immigration, fracking, government-run health care, gun ownership, defunding the police, and an electric vehicle mandate.

On issue after issue where Harris has changed her position, a majority of voters perceive her as a progressive Democrat holding the views she vocally advocated for in the past rather than a remade moderate seeking to fend off former President Donald Trump.

The polling was released a day after Harris’ presidential campaign announced she is flip-flopping on yet another policy issue: a ban on plastic straws. Five years after supporting the idea, Harris now opposes it.

Her latest turnabout marks a series of far-left policy reversals since Harris replaced President Joe Biden as the party’s nominee. Below are Rasmussen’s polling results.

Illegal Immigration

With the border crisis featuring prominently in the 2024 campaign, Harris recently flip-flopped on the U.S.-Mexico border wall, endorsing a proposal to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on construction after previously opposing the idea and calling it “un-American.”

“Trump’s border wall is a complete waste of taxpayer money and won’t make us any safer,” Harris wrote in 2020.

Her endorsement of border security legislation either hasn’t resonated with voters or isn’t believable. Asked if Harris favors or opposes building a border wall, 55% of voters think Harris opposes the idea.

Relatedly, 63% of voters said Harris is more interested in helping illegal immigrants, compared to 23% who said she wants to secure the border.

Fracking Ban

In the crucial swing state of Pennsylvania, Harris is attempting to convince voters that she no longer wants to ban fracking, a technique used to extract oil and natural gas from underground.

During her failed 2020 presidential campaign, Harris said, “There’s no question I’m in favor of banning fracking.”

Last week, she said that’s no longer her position. “What I have seen is that we can grow and we can increase a thriving clean energy economy without banning fracking,” Harris told CNN.

Most voters don’t believe her flip-flop.

According to the RMG Research survey, 42% of respondents said Harris wants to ban fracking, compared to 26% who said she believes fracking contributes to America’s energy independence.

Government-Run Health Care

During her tenure as a U.S. senator from California, Harris co-sponsored Medicare for All legislation championed by socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. Today, it’s not on her agenda.

Still, 41% of voters believe Harris supports a single-payer government-run health care system like Medicare for All that abolishes private health insurance. Just 23% think otherwise.

Gun Ownership

Dating to her time as San Francisco’s district attorney, Harris advocated for restrictions on individual gun rights. Later, while running for president in 2019, she endorsed a “mandatory buyback program” for the government to confiscate firearms.

Most voters agree that Harris is no supporter of the Second Amendment—despite recent attempts by Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, her vice-presidential nominee, to appeal to gun owners.

According to the poll, 53% believe Harris wants to outlaw the private ownership of guns while only 24% believe she would allow it.

Defunding the Police

Even on the issue of defunding the police, which became a flashpoint in America following the 2020 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, voters don’t believe Harris’ more recent claims supporting law enforcement.

Days after Floyd’s death, Harris signaled her support for defunding police and praised Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti for cutting $150 million from the LAPD budget.

“This whole movement is about rightly saying, we need to take a look at these budgets and figure out whether it reflects the right priorities,” Harris told a New York radio station.

When confronted with the unearthed remarks, campaign surrogate Mitch Landrieu said, “Her position has always been that you can both be tough and smart on crime, and it requires funding police.”

But 40% of voters still believe that Harris wants to defund police while 36% said she doesn’t.

Electric Vehicle Mandate

While serving as vice president, the Biden-Harris administration implemented a regulation from the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Transportation that mandates electric vehicle sales in the United States.

By 2032, just eight years from now, 70% of new cars must be battery-powered electric vehicles or plug-in hybrids. Critics have complained the rule benefits China, where an estimated 80% of EV batteries are made.

The Harris campaign this week claimed she “does not support an electric vehicle mandate”—despite the administration’s regulation and her previous support for legislation to do just that.

Nearly two-thirds of voters, 65%, believe Harris would actively promote EVs and phase out the sale of gas-powered cars, compared to 14% who say she wouldn’t.

The RMG Research survey was conducted Sept. 4-5 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.