On Monday, Chauncey McLean, president of the Kamala Harris-aligned super PAC Future Forward, expressed concerns about the accuracy of public polls that show Vice President Harris leading over former President Donald Trump. Speaking at an event hosted by the University of Chicago Institute of Politics, McLean warned that the vice president must secure key battleground states to defeat Trump, which he described as “toss-ups” based on current internal polling data.
“Our numbers are much less rosy than what you’re seeing in the public,” McLean said, according to Reuters.
Future Forward, which has raised hundreds of millions of dollars for Harris’s presidential campaign, has developed a comprehensive internal polling operation to gain a clearer understanding of how Harris compares to Trump. This effort has included testing 500 digital and TV ads for Biden, 200 for Harris, and polling at least 375,000 Americans since July 22.
While some public polls show Harris gaining ground on Trump, and potentially “reshaping” a race that initially favored Trump following President Biden’s withdrawal, McLean emphasized that, despite multiple potential paths to victory for Harris, the race remains “as tight as ever.”
McLean pointed out that seven key states could determine the outcome for either candidate, including Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. He noted that Pennsylvania, in particular, could be decided by a “coin-flip,” according to their data. He suggested that Harris’s path to victory could involve winning one of three critical states: Georgia, Pennsylvania, or North Carolina.
McLean also advised that Harris should shift her focus toward public policy, as polls indicate that Americans want to hear more about her positions on key issues—one of their top concerns as the election approaches. He stressed the need for Harris to provide more concrete examples of how she might differ from Biden, echoing recent calls from Trump allies for her to address her past and future policy decisions. According to McLean, the race is still very much up for grabs. “We have it tight as a tick, and pretty much across the board,” he said.