Most Americans believe Kamala Harris couldn’t win an election

A poll underscores doubts about the vice president’s role in Joe Biden’s campaign, as she suffers persistently low approval ratings and struggles to convince voters of her capacity as a leader.

Only a third of American voters believe Kamala Harris would win a presidential election, a poll has found.

The vice president has suffered persistently low approval ratings since taking office and struggled to convince voters of her capacity as a leader or define her policy positions.

Those who doubt her ability to win an election include two in five Democrats and three in four independents, the Politico-Morning Consult poll found.

With Joe Biden, 81, facing low approval ratings and persistent concerns about his ability to serve a full second term, the survey underscores doubts about Harris’s role as next in line to the presidency. She has an approval rating of 42 per cent, the poll showed, a point behind Biden on 43 per cent.

Harris, 59, has taken a focal role in Biden’s re-election campaign, touting the administration’s achievements. She has been touring the country leading the offensive against Donald Trump over abortion rights, blaming him for difficulties imposed on women since judges he appointed to the Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to the procedure in 2022.

As the first black woman to be elected vice president, Harris has also spearheaded the push to win back African-American voters who have drifted towards Trump in recent polls, prompted by unhappiness at Biden’s handling of the economy.

On those issues, Harris polls strongly. The Politico-Morning Consult survey showed her outperforming Biden among black voters and polling well on abortion, healthcare and LGBT rights. Her favourability among Hispanic voters is also better than Biden’s.

Trip Yang, a Democratic strategist, told Politico: “She’s been good at energising active bases that Democrats have really needed – young black voters, black women. These are constituencies that Democrats can never take for granted.”

But voters remained sceptical about her ability to handle other big issues at home and abroad. Only 40 per cent had confidence in her to tackle immigration, 37 per cent to manage relations with China and 35 per cent to handle the Israel-Gaza crisis.

US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris gesture during a campaign event in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Picture: AFP

Harris has struggled to overcome a rocky start to her vice presidency. She was assigned the thankless tasks of handling the immigration crisis at America’s southern border and pushing for voting rights reform in the face of staunch Republican opposition.

Reports of friction between her team and Biden’s have grown, and her office has lost senior staff amid rumours of her abrasive management style. Numerous gaffes were mercilessly highlighted by the conservative media.

Republicans have sought to exploit her unpopularity and the doubts about the president’s age, warning that a vote for Biden in November is a vote to put Harris in the Oval Office. Those attacks are certain to resume as polling day approaches.

RL Miller, an outgoing member of the Democratic National Committee, told Politico that concerns about Harris within her party were underpinned by lingering trauma from Hillary Clinton’s defeat to Trump in 2016. “I am afraid Democrats have internalised the Hillary Clinton lesson: that a woman can’t win. And I think it’s sad,” Miller said.

The Times