Kamala Harris is the top candidate to replace Joe Biden if he withdraws from the presidential election, several high-ranking sources told Reuters. The question is whether she has what it takes to beat Donald Trump in a presidential election.
Since Biden became president in 2020, Harris has served as vice president. Before that, she was a member of the United States Senate and before that she was the Attorney General and Chief Attorney for the State of California. That makes her one of the most well-known names in the Democratic Party, suggesting she could be the one to replace Biden.
Support for Biden is falling – Harris the natural alternative
Certain newly conducted election surveys shows that Harris would have had a better chance of beating Trump than Biden has. The latest Reuters poll shows that 43 percent had backed Trump while 42 percent had voted for Harris.
The latest figures from CNN show that Biden is six percentage points behind Trump with 43 and 49 percent of the voter support, respectively. Between Trump and Harris, it was also more even in this survey, with 47 and 45 percent of support, respectively.
Moderate voters from both parties prefer Harris over Trump, between 39-50 percent, while unaffiliated or floating voters 40-43 percent more than Trump, according to CNN.
Michelle Obama is the only one beating Harris in the polls, but she does not appear to be an option as she herself has never expressed an interest in running for president.
However, surveys show that the majority of Americans view Harris negatively, but they also view both Trump and Biden negatively.
Several top Democrats are positive about Harris
Democratic representative Adam Schiff has spoken NBC News that he thinks Harris could be a “phenomenal” president and that she had won big over Trump.
– Before we come to a decision about who will run, the president must make a decision if it is him. Either he has to win big, or he has to pass the torch to someone else who can do it, says Schiff.
Although several other candidates to replace Biden have been discussed, several major Democratic sponsors say Harris is “impossible to ignore” as an option.
– She has received stronger support in recent days. Her poll rating has been strengthened in the party now that it is seen that she may need to step forward. Gavin Newsom and Gretchen Whitmer are governors of California and Michigan. But they are not nearly as famous as Kamala Harris and having a famous name is very important in the US, but all three are ready, said Marcus Oscarsson, political commentator on TV4, in Nyhetsmorgon last Thursday.
Harris’s disadvantages are partly that she may have more difficulty drawing in money from sponsors because she belongs to the more left-leaning Democrats than Biden does. Meanwhile, Republican attacks on Harris as both black and female have increased after she was presented as an alternative to Biden.
“Unfortunately, the reliance on both racist and sexist attacks and prejudice against women running for office is historically common and still exists today,” says Kelly Dittmar, professor of political science at Rutgers University, to Reuters.
Harris himself has not spoken out and still stands behind Biden for president. CNN reports that she is focusing on winning over Trump.