Before President Joe Biden decided to call it a career last week and essentially anoint his vice president, Kamala Harris, as his successor atop the Democratic ticket, there has been a renewed focus on polling in swing states.

For most of a year, former President Donald Trump has led Biden in the half-dozen or so battleground states that tend to decide presidential elections, and in most cases, Trump’s lead was widening in the days and weeks before Biden dropped out following his atrocious debate performance in late June.

This week, however, polling in those same states between Trump and Harris has tightened, with Trump’s lead shrinking in nearly all of them or, in the case of one survey, being tied with the vice president in Wisconsin. But that doesn’t mean Harris is ready to walk away with both her party’s nomination and the presidential race just months away.

One focus group voter in Pennsylvania, for instance, told CNN’s John King on Friday that Harris may not be able to win that state because men would be less likely to vote for her.

“I don’t think a lot of men will vote for Harris, I just don’t,” Pamela Aita told King. “Whether you’re Democrat, Republican, whatever, I just don’t think the majority of men are ready for a female president.”

According to Real Clear Polling’s average of polls from July 9 to July 23, Trump leads Harris by 3.6% in a head-to-head matchup in Pennsylvania. However, when including Green Party candidate Jill Stein and independent candidates Robert F. Kennedy and Cornel West, the lead shrinks to 1.5%, the Daily Caller reported.

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Trump leads Harris among men 53% to 42%, according to a CNN poll from July 22 to July 23. In an exit poll conducted by CNN in 2020, Trump led Biden among men 53% to 45%.

Another voter thought Harris could win the Keystone State, however.

“You know, she’s, she’s at the perfect age. She’s committed, she’s vigorous and I, overwhelmingly, the women I talked to are, ‘Let’s go, Let’s go,” Darrell Ann Murphy told King.

King later noted in the segment that the support from white men in the polls could indicate Harris’s ability to carry several states.

“What does the data tell us? Well, let’s leave it on the 2016 map. We don’t have good data about Harris yet. What you’re seeing these polls, she’s certainly more competitive. She’s certainly more competitive than Biden was, that’s a given,” King told CNN host Phil Mattingly.

“Just wait, let’s wait a few weeks before we know, but here’s the key, right? Look at, this is just Pennsylvania white men, right? Hillary Clinton got 32%, she lost. Joe Biden got up to 37%, he won, right? That’s Pennsylvania,” King continued. “Think about Joe Biden wins the blue wall. These are national numbers, but we have tended to have nationalized elections now, so again, among white men, Hillary Clinton gets 31, she loses Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, the Electoral College, Biden gets a little higher, 38%, he wins the blue wall states and these more competitive elsewhere.”

But also Friday, CNN’s data guru Harry Enten dropped some bad news on VHarris’ presidential bid.

“For all the excitement that Democrats have over Kamala Harris, it is going to be difficult to beat Donald Trump, and I want to give you an understanding of why,” Enten began.

“Let’s take a look here just first at the favorable views of Donald Trump. We know that Donald Trump has historically been unpopular, but take a look now. After the Republican National Convention, in the ABC News-Ipsos poll, he recorded his highest-ever favorable rating at 40%. That’s not a one-off. Take a look at the Quinnipiac University poll, 46%. That’s the highest ever in that pollster. The fact is Donald Trump is more popular now than he ever has been before,” Enten continued.

“So, yes, Democrats can make this switch-a-roo but they’re still going to have to beat Donald Trump — a Donald Trump who is stronger than he has ever been before,” he said.

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