The Federal Reserve's 50-basis-point interest rate cut Thursday was hailed as a potential election game changer for the ostensible Democrat incumbency and Sunday's CBS News poll data appears to have backed that narrative.
That is even as a large majority (59%) still consider the economy "bad" compared to good (just 39%), a 20-point net negative, but improvement from worse to just bad is being taken as a positive by Vice President Kamala Harris backers.
Harris (52%) now leads Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump (48%) by 4 points nationally and 2 points (51%-49%) among the seven battlegrounds (Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin).
Those who say the economy is turning, calling the economy "good," back Harris by 88% to 12% for Trump, according to the poll.
But Trump still leads by 6 points (53%-47%) among those who consider the economy a major factor in their vote. That is a cut from the 13-point lead among that demographic (56%-43% in August) before the debate and the rosier Federal Reserve view of the economy amid the timely pre-election 50-basis-point rate cut, along with teases of at least one, if not two more rate cuts.
Further down in the CBS News poll analysis is the reality a large majority still consider "bad" compared to good, the 20-point net negative, even if that is a rosier picture than the 27-point, net-negative view in August (62% bad, 35% good).
CBS News/YouGov polled 3,129 registered voters nationwide Sept. 18-20, and the results have a margin of error of plus or minus 2.2 percentage points.
The poll was taken amid the Sept. 19 Federal Reserve rate cut, the first during the Biden administration and less than two months before the November election.