CNN Data Guru Warns Harris Campaign: 'Bad Sign' Ahead as Country's Direction Concerns Americans

CNN senior data reporter Harry Enten expresses concern for Vice President Kamala Harris's presidential aspirations, citing low approval ratings for the Biden-Harris administration and the country's trajectory.

CNN senior data reporter Harry Enten has raised alarm bells for Vice President Kamala Harris's potential presidential campaign, warning that it would be unprecedented for an incumbent party to win the presidency when such a low percentage of Americans believe the country is on the right track.

According to recent polling, only 28% of Americans currently think America is on the right track. Enten emphasized that this figure is close to the average rating when the party in power loses major elections.

CNN Data Guru Warns Harris Campaign: 'Bad Sign' Ahead as Country's Direction Concerns Americans

"You're very much in the danger zone when we're looking at that right track, wrong direction number, that's where Democrats are right now," Enten said.

He went on to explain that the historical average percentage of Americans who believe the country is on the right track when the incumbent party loses an election is 25%, while the average percentage in the same category when that party retains power via an election is 42%.

CNN Data Guru Warns Harris Campaign: 'Bad Sign' Ahead as Country's Direction Concerns Americans

Enten highlighted that the current 28% right track number is significantly closer to the rate that is present when the incumbent loses. "It looks a heck of a lot like that 28%, right, that currently think the country's on the right track," he stated.

He continued, "When the White House party wins – i.e. Kamala Harris' party, the Democrats – 42% on average think that the country is on the right track. This 25% looks a lot more like this 28%. It doesn’t look anything like this 42%."

CNN Data Guru Warns Harris Campaign: 'Bad Sign' Ahead as Country's Direction Concerns Americans

Summarizing the data, Enten declared, "This to me is a bad sign for Kamala Harris’ campaign. The bottom line is it looks a lot more like a loser than it does like a winner when it comes to the country being on the right track."

CNN anchor John Berman questioned if it was possible for the Democratic Party to win with these numbers, to which Enten cited the average "right track" rate during every election since 1980 in which the incumbent won.

CNN Data Guru Warns Harris Campaign: 'Bad Sign' Ahead as Country's Direction Concerns Americans

His chart revealed that the lowest rate of Americans thinking the country was on the right track when an incumbent won in the modern era was in 1996, when 39% of voters thought the nation was moving in the right direction. The other rates were at 41% or higher when incumbents won since 1980, the highest being 47% of the country thought it was on the right track when former President Ronald Reagan won re-election in 1984 by a landslide.

"There is no historical precedent for the White House party winning another term in the White House when just 28% of the country thinks that we’re on the right track," he said, adding, "John, simply put, it would be historically unprecedented."

However, Enten acknowledged a glimmer of hope for Democrats in the recent midterm elections, which saw the party perform well despite only 26% of Americans believing the country was on the right track at the time.

"Maybe we’ve entered a new political environment where Donald Trump is so unpopular that these historical norms, these historical measures that we look at don’t actually mean what we think anymore," he stated.

"I’ll tell you this much, Kamala Harris better hope that’s the case, because otherwise this right track, wrong direction situation will not work out in their favor."