Voters said Kamala Harris made them feel “hopeful” when asked to give a one-word summary of her performance during Tuesday night’s debate.
It’s the latest indicator that the vice president outperformed many expected against former President Donald Trump, and in this case won the vibe war.
When Trump’s answers were organized into a word cloud, the most common term was “annoyed.”
The details come from an online poll of 800 independent voters conducted by JL Partners on Tuesday evening.
The key figures showed that 49 percent thought Harris performed best on a night when Trump appeared to let his opponent get under his skin.
JL Partners surveyed 800 independent voters who watched Tuesday’s debate. Voters said Kamala Harris made them feel hopeful and confident, but also irritated
In contrast, 43 percent said they thought Trump won that night.
In addition, respondents were asked a number of more detailed questions to gain a sense of each candidate’s strongest moments, the one word that summed up their overall performance and a brief description of how they made viewers feel.
For Harris, the key terms to convey how viewers felt were “hopeful,” “confident,” and “strong.” Only the word “irritated” was used a lot.
It appears her promise to bring joy back to the campaign trail is resonating with voters.
For Trump, “confident” was a prominent name, but “angry,” “scared,” “worried” and “confused” also appeared in his vibe cloud.
“Kamala Harris won the battle of vibes last night: voters felt hope when they listened to her, as opposed to frustration with Trump,” said James Johnson, co-founder of JL Partners.
‘That was really the strategic goal of the Harris campaign: to project a positive image of their candidate who embodies change, and to entice Trump to come across as aggressive as possible.
‘Still, a large portion of independents still found Trump confident and strong, but not as much as Harris.
‘In a race on the cutting edge, that difference is important.’
The 800 independent voters also described what they considered each candidate’s best moment
The two candidates first met at the ABC News debate in Philadelphia, where they spent more than an hour and a half sparring over abortion, the economy and foreign policy.
Harris came up with a plan to throw Trump off his game, and she seemed to succeed. She generated the night’s most viral moment when she ridiculed Trump’s rallies, saying people were leaving early out of “exhaustion and boredom.”
He defended what he called the “most incredible rallies in the history of politics,” before repeating a remarkable online rumor about migrants eating pets.
“What an extreme fuss,” Harris said, laughing.
The result was that Trump’s plan to define his opponent in the eyes of the audience was shelved for an extended period of time as he defended himself or made personal attacks.
Trump again refused to acknowledge his 2020 election defeat, at times raising his voice as he personally attacked Harris.
However, both candidates can take solace in other parts of the evening.
Our panel of independent voters declared Vice President Kamala Harris the best performer that night, viewing her as more presidential than Donald Trump.
Viewers thought Trump won on the key issues of the economy and the border
Trump performed well on some of the key issues that will determine the 2024 election.
When viewers were asked to sum up his best moment in one word, the answers were: border, economy, policy and immigration.
Harris’s word cloud was dominated by the word “abortion,” after she took a clear and expansive stance on an issue where Trump is clearly struggling to reconcile his personal views with pressure from religious conservatives who are key to his coalition.
The two candidates are in a neck-and-neck race.
Harris had seen her stock and fundraising surge after her surprise entry into the race in July, but there are signs her honeymoon is coming to an end and the polls are tightening again.
According to our DailyMail.com/JL Partners election model, Trump has a 55 percent chance of winning.