Having Kamala Harris as the clear choice to replace Joe Biden is not sitting well with many a Democrat even though on paper she is the best person to replace him as she is the current Vice President.
Her polling figures are equally worrisome. With calls for Biden to step down after his mental acuity has been in question during the recent debate, many eyes are on Harris to do the job. But since her polling figures are poor, there simply is no confidence among Democrats as they look to others such as California Governor Gavin Newsom to do the job.
In an interview with Newsweek, Democratic strategist Michael Trujillo said that the whole point of being vice president is it means you’re second in line.
“If Kamala Harris isn’t qualified, then why has she been our vice president for three and a half years? That just makes no sense.
Also, there is bound to be a lot of backlash if the first female vice president, who just so happens to be a woman of colour, gets sidelined.
New York’s Colgate University associate professor Sam Rosenfeld says that the fact that Democrats say there is no obvious candidate to replace Biden if he were to drop out is a “crazy narrative”
”I know Harris has obvious political weaknesses and suffers from this kind of permanent all-pervasive collective scepticism, but still – this ’no clear replacement’ is just crazy to me. She’s the vice president!”, said Rosenfeld.
Polls show that Harris is the best choice for voters to replace Biden but the polling average also shows that Harris has an even bigger disadvantage than the President if she were to run against Trump.
According to a poll conducted by Politico and Morning Consult last month, only one-third of voters think she would win if she becomes the Democratic nominee. Less than 40% of Americans think she is doing a good job as vice president.
Harris to her credit has been unwavering in her support for Biden telling CNN that although Biden had a slow start he ended the 90 minute debate with “a strong finish”.
“What we saw tonight was the President making a very clear contrast with Donald Trump on all the issues that matter to the American people.
“I’m not going to spend all night with you talking about the last 90 minutes when I’ve been watching the last three and half years of performance,” she said in an interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper.
Harris may be under fire for a lot of things, but at 59 years old, she may be a much safer bet than Biden and is unlikely to stutter and stumble her way through speeches and debates.