Is Kamala Harris a stronger candidate than Biden?
The possibility that US President Joe Biden will end his campaign puts his Vice President’s political pros and cons in the spotlight.
In the background of President Joe Biden’s decision on whether to continue his campaign against Donald Trump sits a crucial question: Would Kamala Harris do any better?
Some Democratic lawmakers and donors have long fretted over Harris’s potential political weaknesses, citing the rocky start to her tenure as Vice President and the shortcomings of her own 2020 presidential bid.
Now those vulnerabilities are under an intense spotlight, even as her poll numbers have improved and she is increasingly seen as a viable alternative to the 81-year-old incumbent.
Democratic lawmakers, strategists, county chairs and donors say they are hearing more support and praise for Harris than ever before. Even if Biden doesn’t bow out of the race, party leaders are pushing the campaign to elevate Harris more to counter concerns about his age and ability to effectively make the case against the 78-year-old Trump.
Several Democrats also acknowledged lingering concern about whether she would be able to withstand intensified attacks from the GOP in either scenario.
Some Democratic voters at a Harris stop in North Carolina on Thursday shared those fears.
Y.C. Broadie, 47, a Democrat from Sedalia, N.C., said she came to the Vice President’s event to see if she could “reimagine” the Democratic ticket. When asked if she thought Harris could beat Trump, Broadie said: “That’s the iffy part. It’s going to be hard, but we just need to fall in love with her.”
Several voters said Hillary Clinton’s defeat in 2016 had convinced them that it was tougher for a female candidate to beat Trump.
“I just don’t think the country as a whole is ready for a woman, though we are working on it,” said Emma Shuford, 88, a retiree from Greensboro.
Biden himself has made the claim that he is the best candidate to beat Trump a central part of his reasoning for staying in the race in the midst of calls for him to exit.
Biden’s top advisers have reiterated that message, even as speculation for Harris to replace him has mounted.
Asked if he believed Harris could beat Trump if she was the nominee, Biden said at a news conference Thursday that he wouldn’t have picked her as his running mate if she hadn’t been qualified to be president. Biden misspoke at one point and referred to Harris as “Vice President Trump.”
A Washington Post/ABC News poll released Thursday found Harris leading Trump by 2 points in a hypothetical contest, while Biden trailed by 1 point. Both match-ups were within the survey’s margin of error.
The poll found 70 per cent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents said they would be satisfied with Harris as the party’s nominee. And an NPR/PBS News/Marist poll released Friday showed Harris getting 50 per cent of registered voters to 49 per cent for Trump, almost identical to Biden’s 50-48 edge.
Harris, who remained a forceful defender of the President, has also tried to quell the Democratic panic, pushing voters and donors to look past Biden’s debate performance. Some donors who spoke with her in recent days said she has shared that she and her team are closely watching the situation and that they don’t want to do anything to be seen as unsupportive of the President, as questions continue swirling about Biden’s status.
A number of Biden donors who supported Harris’s 2020 bid said they are keeping their options open in case she becomes the presidential nominee and they could have more influence by staying close to her.
Harris, Democrats say, has come a long way in the past two years on a challenging task: changing her public perception and finding her footing in her role as the first female Vice President.
But the collapse of her 2020 presidential campaign, missteps in some early interviews and perception as being too liberal – fostered by Republicans over the past four years – give Democrats some pause.
Most polls also show her with low favourability – in line with Biden’s. A Wall Street Journal poll taken after the debate found some 35 per cent of respondents viewed Harris favourably compared with 58 per cent who viewed her unfavourably.
A swing-state Democratic strategist said: “The question is which Harris are we going to get? She has proven she can be different things – some good, some not. If she continues what she’s doing right now … she could be a really dynamic candidate.” The strategist added that he is resigned to Biden’s replacement with Harris.
Her appearances in recent months have inspired confidence in many Democrats that they said they were previously lacking. She has been travelling around the country campaigning on abortion rights – an issue that is essential to energising the Democratic base on which she has more credibility than Biden.
Lately, she has also articulated a contrast between Biden’s record and Trump’s agenda, as she rallies Black, young and progressive voters who polls show are frustrated with Biden.
“So ultimately in this election we each face a question: What kind of country do we want to live in?” she said Thursday. “Do we want to live in a country of freedom, compassion, and rule of law, or a country of chaos, fear and hate? … We each have the power to answer that question.”
If Biden were to withdraw, Harris would have some built-in advantages over other Democrats who are considering a presidential bid. She has already been vetted and has high name recognition compared with alternatives. She is also uniquely positioned to inherit the Biden campaign’s war chest and make for the most seamless transition.
Dmitri Mehlhorn, a Democratic strategist and adviser to billionaires, including the Democratic donor Reid Hoffman, said they would back Harris if Biden were to withdraw but he thinks she would have to work on shedding her liberal image to defeat Trump.
Mehlhorn said Harris, whom he viewed as a centrist in California, was pushed to the left in the 2020 Democratic primary on several issues, which Republicans have been able to seize on to paint her as a “radical leftist.”
Many said she could effectively lean into her background as a former prosecutor to present the case against Trump, who was convicted on 34 felony counts in May.
Some Democrats, including some vulnerable lawmakers, worry that Harris would only highlight the chaos in the party after the debate and amplify the weaknesses of the Biden administration. Others are bracing for an increase in sexist and racist attacks against Harris by Trump and the right-wing media if she were to become the nominee.
Republicans, who have made a concerted effort since Harris was first named as Biden’s running mate to target her in a way that is unusual for a vice president, have labelled Harris the “DEI vice president,” referring to diversity, equity and inclusion. They have also been raising questions about whether Harris has been honest in responding to concerns related to Biden’s age.
“They are all co-conspirators in the sinister plot to defraud the American public about the cognitive abilities of the man in the Oval Office,” Trump said at a recent rally.
Another politically problematic issue for Harris: immigration.
Harris has already been a focus of GOP criticism of Biden’s immigration policy, a top concern for voters. Facing record levels of illegal border crossings, the President tasked Harris in 2021 with addressing the root causes of migration.
The Vice President wasn’t asked to lead border policy, but Republicans have cast her as the “border tsar” for the administration.
Dow Jones Newswires
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