There is growing fear in Democratic circles that the presidential race could be slipping further away from Vice President Harris.
To be sure, Democrats still think Harris can defeat former President Trump. The margins are so close in the seven battleground states likely to decide the contest, a shift toward either candidate or a mistake in the polling could be decisive.
At the same time, Democrats are privately expressing worry that battleground polling appears to be moving in Trump’s direction over the last two weeks.
Cracks in the “blue wall” of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin are starting to show, with Senate incumbents in both Pennsylvania and Wisconsin now in toss-up races, according to the Cook Political Report.
The three northern states generally move in the same direction in the presidential race, but Harris has been losing ground to Trump in polls, particularly in Wisconsin. In Michigan, doubts among Arab American voters are worrying Democrats.
None of this is making Democrats feel better about an Election Day that is now less than two weeks away.
“Everyone keeps saying, ‘It’s close.’ Yes, it’s close, but are things trending our way? No. And no one wants to openly admit that,” one Democratic strategist said. “Could we still win? Maybe. Should anyone be even slightly optimistic right now? No.”