In recent polling by RealClearPolitics, it has been found that Vice President Kamala Harris holds a lower favorability rating than President Joe Biden. Harris’s favorability rating is one point less than Biden’s, raising concerns about her potential as an alternative to the current president atop the Democrat ticket.
The poll found that Harris had a favorability average of 38.1%, while Biden’s favorability was slightly higher at 39.1. Despite this, Biden holds a greater negative net favorability rating of -17.5 (39.1 -56.6 percent) compared to Harris’s -14.2 percent net favorability rating (38.1 – 52.3.
Harris is not particularly popular with voters, holding a 38.6 percent approval according to FiveThirtyEight, while Biden’s approval stands at 38.5 percent. Both Democrats’ favorability is significantly below the 50 percent threshold historically needed for an incumbent to win reelection.
Polling data released by former pollster for President Barack Obama, Fernand Amandi, on July 9 showed Harris as politically viable. His poll, conducted by Bendixen & Amandi, found that Harris led former President Donald Trump by one point (42-41 percent.
It has been suggested that Obama played a significant role behind the scenes in Biden’s decision to step aside. The president did not question the validity of Biden’s candidacy until Wednesday in a Washington Post leak. This leak followed reports that surfaced just hours before former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), House Democrat Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) told the president to step aside.
The timing of the leak indicates an organized effort by Democrat leaders to convince Biden to drop out after weeks of chaos within the party amid continued media scrutiny on Biden’s political viability. The idea here is that Obama, Pelosi, Jeffries, and Schumer do not want to be seen as back-room party bosses engineering a Harris coronation,” Playbook reported. And if there’s a real challenge then they want to be able to unite the party again when there’s a nominee.
Democrats appear to be coalescing around Harris, with support from Hillary and Bill Clinton, as well as the “Squad.” The top Democrats who have not backed Harris in public include Obama, Pelosi, Jeffries, and Schumer. Outside of Harris, other potential Democrat nominees include Gov. Roy Cooper (D-NC), Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA), Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI), Gov. JB Pritzker (D-IL), and Gov. Andy Beshear (D-KY.