US Vice President Kamala Harris is striking a delicate balance, playing the role of cheerleader for President Joe Biden while standing as a leading contender to replace him if he fails in his bid for re-election.
Biden’s disappointing performance in last week’s debate with Donald Trump has sparked panic within the Democratic Party, as people question whether Biden is physically and mentally capable of defeating Trump and serving for four more years.
Former Congressman Tim Ryan expressed his admiration for Biden, saying in an article he wrote for Newsweek that “the Democratic nominee in 2024 should be Kamala Harris.”
“We should be doing everything we can to strengthen them — whether it’s in second place or at the top,” Jim Clyburn, the House’s top Democrat and Black leader, told MSNBC.
Harris herself has not publicly expressed any desire to replace Biden.
“Look, Joe Biden is our candidate,” he said in an interview with CBS News on Tuesday. “We beat Trump once, and we’ll beat him again, that’s it.”
He said he was proud to be on the current ticket with the President.
Shortly after the debate, Harris appeared on TV to defend Biden and acknowledged that he had got off to a slow start in his confrontation with Trump but that he ultimately finished strong.
Biden’s official schedule on Wednesday said he had lunch with Harris, which is not a regular event though it was a weekly occurrence for Biden when he was vice president under Barack Obama.
a heartbeat
Harris, 59, is the first woman, the first Black person and the first person of Asian descent — her mother was from India — to hold the position, which puts her one step closer to the presidency, as Americans like to say.
Harris would become president if Biden dies or becomes incapacitated while in office.
But she wouldn’t necessarily replace Biden if he ends his candidacy, and Biden has stressed he has no plans to do so.
“For the last three and a half years, there’s been a growing debate that somebody other than the vice president should be the Democratic nominee,” said Ange-Marie Hancock, a political science professor at Ohio State University.
Hancock said it was possible that “an underlying current of racism and sexism” was at work against Harris.
Over the years, Harris has been less popular among Americans than other Democrats considered potential candidates, such as California Governor Gavin Newsom or his Michigan counterpart Gretchen Whitmer.
The US media has reported extensively on the mistakes made early in his administration, mainly on the diplomatic front, and on the tensions among his staff.
But Hancock said things could work in Harris’ favor because she has spent time visiting battleground states specifically to promote abortion rights, which have come under repeated criticism from conservative judges and governors.
This shift can be seen on social media, where pro-Harris memes have begun to go viral under the hashtag #KHive.
Harris is sometimes criticized as being disappointing as a speaker. But she has been warmly received when she recently visited universities, focusing on schools with high numbers of minority students.
In July she will make three trips to Louisiana, Texas and Indiana to speak to African American audiences, particularly women.
vote
According to a CNN poll released on Tuesday, Harris is performing better than Biden against Trump, though she is unable to beat him.
In this survey, 45 percent of the voters voted in favor of Harris and 47 percent in favor of Trump, whereas in the contest between the two men, Republican former President Biden got 43 percent votes and Trump got 49 percent votes.
If Biden pulls out of this convention, Harris, with her name recognition, her ties to powerful people in government and her potential for rapid money-raising, will go into next month’s Democratic convention in a strong position.
But Republicans are ready and waiting.
“Kamala Harris is on the Republican Party’s radar,” Hancock said, referring to Trump’s party.
The Trump campaign on Wednesday aired a video of Biden falling and other embarrassing moments, and questioned whether he could serve another term.
It ends with the question, “And you know who’s waiting behind him, don’t you?” and footage of Harris laughing is shown.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
