As US President Joe Biden faces growing pressure to drop his re-election bid, a majority of Democrats think his vice president would make a good president herself.
A new poll from the AP-NORC Centre for Public Affairs Research found that about six in 10 Democrats believe Kamala Harris would do a good job in the top slot. About two in 10 Democrats do not believe she would, and another two in 10 say they do not know enough to say.
Since Mr Biden’s debate debacle on June 27, many Democrats have privately and even openly looked to Ms Harris to step in and succeed Mr Biden as the party’s presidential nominee, believing she has a better chance against Republican nominee Donald Trump.
For her part, Ms Harris has remained loyal to Mr Biden, being one of his toughest defenders in the aftermath of the disastrous debate performance.
Oakley Graham, a Democrat in Greenwood, Missouri, said while he is “pretty happy” with Mr Biden’s accomplishments in office, he felt that he would be more excited to support Ms Harris at the top of the ticket and that it was “about time” a woman becomes president.
“I know he’s got unfinished business,” Mr Graham, 30, said of Mr Biden. “But it would be nice to see a person of colour, a woman, somebody younger to step up and to lead that charge.
“I would hope that that would inspire a younger generation to be more engaged.”
Black adults – a key contingent of the Democrats’ coalition and a group that remains relatively more favourable to Mr Biden than others — are more likely than Americans overall to say that Ms Harris would do well.
As for Americans more broadly, they are more sceptical of how Ms Harris would perform in the Oval Office. Only about three in 10 US adults overall say Ms Harris would do well as president. About half say Ms Harris would not do a good job in the role, and two in 10 say they do not know enough to say.
Ms Harris’ favourability rating is similar to Mr Biden’s, but the share of Americans who have an unfavourable opinion of her is somewhat lower.
The poll showed that about four in 10 US adults have a favourable opinion of Ms Harris, while about half have an unfavourable opinion. There are more Americans with a negative view of Mr Biden: approximately six in 10. About one in 10 Americans say they do not know enough to have an opinion of Ms Harris, whereas nearly everyone has an opinion on Mr Biden.
About three-quarters of Democrats have a positive view of Ms Harris, which is in line with how Democrats view Mr Biden. Seven in 10 have a favourable view of him.
Shannon Bailey, a Democrat who lives in Tampa, praised Mr Biden’s accomplishments as president – particularly with his infrastructure law and efforts to tame inflation – and said he will be “remembered fondly”.
But she had a more favourable view of Ms Harris than she does the incumbent president because, in Ms Bailey’s view, the vice president appears more “capable of handling the taxing nature of the job”.
“It’s not just the physical stamina part, but also the cognitive reasoning part right now,” said Ms Bailey, 34. “It’s important to be able to concisely and persuasively get the message across that is the Democratic platform right now.”
Ms Bailey said the Democratic Party needs Ms Harris and a running mate “who can really motivate people to go out to the polls” — a task that she’s sceptical Mr Biden can do as effectively.
Ms Harris’s position as the administration’s lead messenger on abortion also has endeared her to many Democrats.
“I think she would be a very strong advocate for abortion, has been and would continue to be,” said Thomas Mattman, a Democrat from Chico, California.
“The Republicans have gone with white men as their ticket, and both of them have said some pretty specific things about being opposed to abortion so I think that would be a very strong argument.”
Mr Mattman, 59, said he believes Mr Biden will not be able to defeat Republican nominee Donald Trump — a prospect that leaves mr Mattman “very distraught”.
Ms Harris would be a much more effective candidate because Mr Biden is unable to “put pressure” on his opponent and exploit his weaknesses, Mr Mattman said.
Ms Harris is more popular among black Americans than she is among white or Hispanic adults. She is more disliked by men than she is by women.
Other prominent Democrats who have been floated as potential replacements are less known than Ms Harris is.
Around four in 10 US adults do not have an opinion of California governor Gavin Newsom, and half are unfamiliar with Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer. Mr Newsom is seen, overall, slightly more negatively than positively. Americans are divided about evenly on Ms Whitmer: 24% have a favourable view and 22% have an unfavourable view.
More Democrats see Ms Harris rather than Mr Newsom or Ms Whitmer as someone who would make a good president, though that is partly because they are relative unknowns.
About one-third of Democrats say Mr Newsom would make a good president, and half do not know enough to say. About one-quarter of Democrats say Ms Whitmer would do well, and about two-thirds do not know enough to say.
Mr Trump’s running mate, Senator JD Vance of Ohio, is unknown to most Americans.
In the AP-NORC poll, which was conducted before Mr Trump made Mr Vance his vice presidential choice, six in 10 Americans do not know enough about him to form an opinion.
Around two in 10 US adults have a favourable view of Vance, and about two in 10 view him negatively.
Among Republicans, 61% do not know enough to have an opinion of Mr Vance. About one-quarter have a positive view of him, and roughly one in 10 have a negative view.
