With less than two weeks until Election Day, CNBC’s latest national poll shows a presidential battle between Republicans and the margin of error. Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris both nationally and in key battleground states, with Trump leading on economic issues and Harris leading on character issues, including honesty and fitness to be president.
In CNBC’s quarterly “All-America Economic Survey,” Trump gets support from 48% of registered voters, while Harris gets 46% — a 2-point spread, well within the poll’s margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points .
That slim two-point lead for Trump is unchanged from CNBC’s August poll, and essentially unchanged from NBC News’ national poll earlier this month, conducted by the same bipartisan polling firm, which showed the candidates each 48% were equal.
Meanwhile, overwhelming numbers of registered voters in the seven core states – Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin – show Trump leading Harris by just 1 point in those combined states, 48% to 47% – again , well within the margin of error.
The pollsters conducting the CNBC survey say inflation remains a powerful factor shaping this election, with 63% of voters nationwide saying they feel their family’s income is lagging behind the cost of living, nearly half of voters call it one of their highest incomes. issues before the election – an increase from previous CNBC surveys.
“Even though the data shows that inflation has theoretically declined, over the course of the last three quarters it has become more important in people’s minds, not less important,” Democratic pollster Jay Campbell of Hart Research Associates told CNBC. (Campbell is conducting the poll with Republican Micah Roberts of Public Opinion Strategies.)
Harris is a leader in fitness and honesty; Trump is at the forefront when it comes to economic issues
In terms of issues and presidential qualities, the poll shows that Harris is 13 points ahead nationally on which candidate has the necessary mental and physical fitness to become president, and she is 10 points ahead on honest and trustworthy are.
However, Trump has a seven-point lead nationally over Harris, which candidate better strengthens the economy in their community. Trump also has an eight-point lead on taxes and businesses, and a nine-point lead on helping small businesses.
The poll also shows that 42% of registered voters say they think they will be better off financially if Trump wins, compared to 24% who think they will be better off financially if Harris wins. Another 29% of voters say their financial situation won’t change no matter what.
Another question was asked: Which candidate would be better able to bring about positive change for the country? – 42% of nationally registered voters choose Harris, while 40% choose Trump. But neither figure is enough to win the presidency, and the race may ultimately be decided by two other groups with very different judgments on the issue.
Another 5% of voters said they thought both Harris and Trump would bring positive change. And another 9% of voters came to the pessimistic assessment that neither Harris nor Trump would bring positive change as the next president.
Comparison of the popularity of Trump and Harris
Additionally, the CNBC poll shows that Trump is slightly more popular than Harris nationally, with Trump’s rating at 42% positive, 48% negative (-6 net), while Harris’s is 39% positive and 49% negative (- 10) was.
But their ratings are nearly identical across the battleground states — 44% positive, 49% negative for Trump (-5), compared to Harris’ 43% positive, 48% negative (-5).
A GOP lead in the battle for control of Congress
Finally, the poll looks at the battle for control of Congress, with 48% of registered voters favoring Republicans over control of Congress, while 44% want Democrats to be in charge.
That four-point Republican lead is identical across the combined battleground states: 48% for Republicans to 44% for Democrats.
The CNBC poll was conducted Oct. 15-19 among 1,000 registered voters, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points. And the margin of error among the 586 voters from Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin is plus or minus 4 percentage points.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
