Nearly every member of a focus group of undecided voters convened by CNN made up their minds after watching Kamala Harris' acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention.
The panel of five men and three women from Allentown, Pennsylvania, gave mostly positive grades to the vice president – three gave her an A grade, three gave her a B+, one gave her a B and another gave her a C – and six of them were ready to pledge their support for Harris, one for Trump and one would likely not vote at all.
"I gave her an A," said Donna, a white woman who's a retired dental hygienist. "She hit all the points I wanted to know about. I wanted to know more about her, her economic policies, her foreign policy. I know she couldn't go into depth about that but, I mean, I felt she looked very presidential, she sounded presidential, and I think she's going to be a unifier."
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Patrick, a Black autoworkers union member, gave Harris a B+, saying she was confident and knowledgeable, but didn't think she provided enough depth about her policies, while John, a white UAW member, gave her an A.
"I was looking for policy information, I wanted real substantive information, and I think she gave enough," John said. "I like what she gave on military, what she wants to do for our veterans and with border control. I just think that she has a lot of good ideas, and she is very well spoken. I think she was very professional."
Sabrina, who is John's daughter and also an autoworkers union member, liked what Harris had to say about women's rights and praised her clarity on policy issues, but Brian, a Black man who works in real estate, could only give her a C grade.
"She wasn't clear enough on the policies," Brian said. "She did speak a lot of her personal history, which was great, but I still don't feel like she's ready. I feel like more so she should wait. I don't want to per se, vote for someone that is a backup."
Brian was the only panelist who admitted he would vote for Trump, while six of the others all decided to back Harris following the convention, although Lindsey, a white woman, hadn't seen enough from either candidate to make up her mind.
"Still probably not voting," Lindsey said. "Nope."
Scott, a white man, explained what had moved the needle for him.
"I really liked her confidence," Scott said. "She seemed presidential, she seemed very confident. She spoke from her heart, she spoke on her background, that she struggled, her mother struggled, middle class background."
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