Daily Times

As President Joe Biden faces a growing drumbeat of pressure to drop his reelection bid, a majority of Democrats think his vice president would make a good president herself.

A new poll from the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that about 6 in 10 Democrats believe Kamala Harris would do a good job in the top slot. About 2 in 10 Democrats don´t believe she would, and another 2 in 10 say they don´t know enough to say.

Since Biden´s debate debacle on June 27, many Democrats have privately and even openly looked to Harris to step in and succeed Biden as the party´s presidential nominee, believing she has a better chance against GOP nominee Donald Trump. For her part, Harris has remained completely loyal to 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 Biden´s accomplishments in office, he felt that he would be more excited to support Harris at the top of the ticket and that it was “about time” a woman becomes president. “I know he´s got unfinished business,” Graham, 30, said of Biden. “But it would be nice to see a person of color, 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 favorable to Biden than others – are more likely than Americans overall to say that Harris would do well.

As for Americans more broadly, they are more skeptical of how Harris would perform in the Oval Office. Only about 3 in 10 U.S. adults overall say Harris would do well as president. About half say Harris would not do a good job in the role, and 2 in 10 say they don´t know enough to say. Harris´ favorability rating is similar to Biden´s, but the share of Americans who have an unfavorable opinion of her is somewhat lower. The poll showed that about 4 in 10 U.S. adults have a favorable opinion of Harris, while about half have an unfavorable opinion. There are more Americans with a negative view of Biden: approximately 6 in 10. About 1 in 10 Americans say they don´t know enough to have an opinion of Harris, whereas nearly everyone has an opinion on Biden.

About three-quarters of Democrats have a positive view of Harris, which is in line with how Democrats view Biden. Seven in 10 have a favorable view of him.

Shannon Bailey, a Democrat who lives in Tampa, praised Biden´s accomplishments as president — particularly with his infrastructure law and efforts to tame inflation — and said he´ll be “remembered fondly.” But she had a more favorable view of Harris than she does the incumbent president because, in 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 Bailey, 34. “It´s important to be able to concisely and persuasively get the message across that is the Democratic platform right now.”