the annual cic clsa investors Forum begins in Hong Kong today bringing together senior Executives and investors to discuss top issues from geopolitics to the macro environment our next guest is one of the speakers at The Forum and joining us now is the Republican pollster Frank L who's the CEO at fil Frank really great to have you with us and you know we talk about just there's really not much between the two candidates if you take a look at uh the polling over the past few weeks right the the question for kamla following the DNC was always whether she was going to be able to maintain that momentum is that what you're seeing that's exactly what I'm seeing and in fact I waited to the clsa investor Forum to discuss some of the latest focus groups that we've done and the polling that we've done and what we find is it only matters in seven states so let me give you a preview of what I'm going to be saying those seven states Pennsylvania Michigan Wisconsin Georgia uh North Carolina and Western States Nevada and Arizona that's all that matters and there's 5% who are undecided right now and basically they don't like either candidate they reject Trump because of his attitude and his Persona and they reject Harris because they don't know enough about her they want to know more of the details and they're waiting for this debate tomorrow night Trump on one side Harris on the other they want to see the comparison and that's when they're going to make their decision tomorrow night will be the most important day of the entire campaign and I like tens of millions of Americans are be tuning in to see whether Donald Trump can keep quiet and whether comma Harris has the details that the public wants out of those handful of critical States how do you write Pennsylvania because we've seen both parties really doing very specific you know strategic Outreach in Pennsylvania is it going to come down to this state and do you think these strategies are working if I'm asked one state to focus on it is Pennsylvania and in fact I'm going to be spending a lot of time there over the next 60 days because it matters that much and the key vote are people who live paycheck to paycheck I know that on the show you focus on jobs you focus on interest rates you focus on the economy there's one issue that Pennsylvania cares about more than any other and it's not inflation it's affordability food and fuel housing and health care which candidate is going to bring down prices to give the public the ability to afford that house they want the health care they they deserve and the food and fuel that they absolutely positively need Pennsylvania is Ground Zero for this election Frank the very first time that we ever spoke was actually in Hong Kong and that was leading up to the 2016 presidential elections and I remember you were telling me about how ingenious these red magga caps were how really Trump was bringing this new energy to the Republican Party tell us a little bit about how how much he's changed the Republican party at a time when we're also seeing lifelong Republicans breaking with Donald Trump himself well the entire political ground has shifted it's an earthquake that you have people who are voting Republican now that have never ever considered doing so young African-American men that used to be 90% Democrat Trump is now getting 30% of them workers in in unions not the government unions not the educator unions but other unions are considering voting Republican for Trump for the first time ever similarly the Democrats when Harris became the nominee young women were so excited and so enthralled and so passionate because they did not have a candidate to vote for and now they do so you've got this shift in going on both sides which is why this election is so darn close and you can't call it right now because it's it's one thing to support a candidate it's another to actually take the time to go out and vote there was a time when Trump had a 10-point advantage over Joe Biden on definite voting on the actual participation now arguably Harris has the advantage over Trump in turning out her vote but we will see in 60 days Frank looking at the election campaign unfolding in the US and the big focus on the Harris campaign on Joy and bringing back this Joy when it comes to politics it sort of makes me reminisce about perhaps Barack Obama's message of Hope um Can you capture sort of the middle of the road uh voters that are really undecided between two parties if she gets some of those more sensible policies that could also resonate with moderate Republicans so that's the key question and I would reframe it a little bit because I don't think joy joy excites people excites your base it excites those who already support you and Trump is saying that we need to make these changes that the last three and a half years have actually made things worse not better in the end the key question that will decide this election is quite simple are you better off today than you were four years ago that is the question that Donald Trump needs to ask at the beginning of the debate and at the end of the debate and for Harris do you want the same chaos that we've had four years ago do you want to bring it back today because voters have had enough of that they're generally ch the challenge when they wake up in the morning when they go to sleep at night paycheck to paycheck 23% of America hire in Pennsylvania than any other state can the candidates win the paycheck to paycheck voters those are the ones who matter there are millions of them in Pennsylvania and many more Millions across the country it's the candidate not that has Joy or not that's seeking to Revenge it's the candidate that can address that concern can I make it through the day can I make it through the week the month the year that's the candidate that wins in November so this isn't hinge the result doesn't hinge as much on enthusiasm and therefore turnout as much as actual you know specific policy detail yes it does the turn out is important but for Harris her challenge is that the public still doesn't feel like they've got enough detail they want a detailed plan of action from her and for Trump he has to show that he can keep his anger in check because because they they support Trump's policies on inflation and immigration more than Harris but they like Harris and they like her Persona and her approach more than they like Trump if the election is about issues Trump wins but the problem is he makes it about Persona so he's His Own Worst Enemy for Harris she has to prove that she's got the details that gets the public to trust her but she's not told this enough of where she stands so that's her weakness which is why tomorrow night's debate is so so so important Franklin good to have you back founder and CEO of f joining us actually on this side of the world in Hong Kong