Democratic euphoria over Vice President Kamala Harris has been replaced by panic as former President Donald Trump makes marginal gains in a close presidential race.
Democrats find themselves in much better place than two months ago, when President Joe Biden trailed Trump across the battleground map. Harris has pulled within the margin of error from Pennsylvania to Wisconsin since taking over the ticket.
Yet her perceived inability to connect with traditionally Democratic voters has cast a pall over the polls showing a toss-up race. Harris is underperforming Biden with black voters by 10 points, according to a recent survey from the New York Times-Siena College, while blue-collar white voters continue their rightward drift to Trump.
“The existential dread is real for non-Trump fans,” according to Democratic pollster Stefan Hankin, who said Democrats were not this nervous in past…
