Opinion: Harris should be losing to Trump. But Republicans made the wrong choice.

We're weeks away from the presidential election, and Republican nominee Donald Trump's campaign narrowly trails Vice President Kamala Harris nationally in the polls as each candidate sprints to the finish.

This is a close race. And while that might not be surprising now, it's something very few Republicans would have predicted in the days before President Joe Biden dropped out of the race this summer.

That means Republicans might be asking ourselves why. Why is this election so close?

The more Trump speaks, the more Americans are reminded of his deficiencies as a candidate, both in character and coherence. Many Republicans are also likely left wondering what could have been if somebody like Sen. JD Vance of Ohio were at the top of the GOP ticket and not Trump.

I know this is a ridiculous hypothetical. Vance was never involved in the GOP primary, opting instead to use his loyalty to Trump to launch his national brand as VP candidate. Even so, I can't help but imagine what the race would look like if Republicans had rejected Trump in the primaries and chosen a different Republican candidate instead.

A different Republican candidate would be dominating the polls

In such a favorable political climate, Republicans would've been wise to play it safe and select a less controversial and more competent candidate, such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis or former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, the two runners-up in the GOP primary.

A candidate like former South Carolina Gov. Haley, who appeals to some moderate Democrats, would have been extremely difficult for Democrats to deal with. But it's also hard not to see that even a candidate with MAGA appeal, such as DeSantis, wouldn't be doing better against Harris than Trump is.

GOP voters decided instead that because they had such an advantage against Biden, the Republican Party could afford to nominate Trump, one of the only candidates who could ultimately lose to Biden and Harris.

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Voters have come to expect candidates with some baggage. Trump has too much.

Voters can overcome a lot of noise surrounding their candidate because if you're looking for a perfect person, politics is not the place to find one. Voters like me would have broadly been fine with voting for any of the other viable primary candidates.

However, Trump's character and competency are a bridge too far for me, a conservative voter. That gets amplified by more moderate or centrist voters.

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As much as you can critique people like DeSantis, Haley and Vance for their flaws, they tend to fall under the category of more traditional political baggage. Trump, on the other hand, is an exception to those norms, having attempted to overturn an election and a long history of attacking women ? and being an actual convicted felon.

The reasons that Trump is disqualified from the presidency in many of our eyes are either his morally bankrupt character or his attempt to steal an election. Take that away, and many of us conservatives who won't vote for Trump as the candidate might find a way to support his political platform if somebody else was the face of it.

Vance makes Trump look ridiculous by comparison

Vance is wrong about what it means to be conservative. We don’t share views on many fundamental things. However, I could put those disagreements aside and vote for him if he were at the top of the ticket.

In light of his recent debate performance, Vance has gained momentum as a force in the GOP. His strong showing was the first extended look many Americans had at the vice presidential nominee, and it was an excellent first impression.

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Watching that debate, I couldn’t help but contrast the coherency of his positions with the garbled musings of Trump in his own debate. I couldn’t help but think that the race would look quite different if somebody like Vance were at the top of the ticket.

Vance is not the morally bankrupt character that Trump is, even if I think he’s sold out in some ways. He hasn’t been credibly accused of sexual assault like Trump has, he doesn’t have a very public history of infidelity, and he wasn’t the orchestrator of an attempt to overturn a legitimate election in our own country.

Vance's worst crime is being spineless, to which I say: Show me a politician who isn't.

Trump is not fit to be president of the United States, not because of his policies, but because he lacks the character necessary for the job.

To earn the vote of conservatives like me, the GOP needs to move on from Trump. Vance is clearly a part of the party's plan to do so, but it would be a whole lot better had Republicans decided to do so for this election, not after another dart throw with Trump.

Dace Potas is an opinion columnist for USA TODAY and a graduate of DePaul University with a degree in political science.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Opinion: Trump may cost GOP the election. But Vance could beat Harris