WASHINGTON — As president Joe Biden As pressure mounts to abandon his re-election bid, a majority of Democrats believe his vice president would make a good president himself.
A new poll from the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that about 6 in 10 Democrats believe Kamala Harris would do well in the top job. About 2 in 10 Democrats don’t believe she would, and another 2 in 10 say they don’t know enough to say.
Since Bidens debate debacle On June 27, many Democrats privately and even openly eyed Harris to succeed Biden as the party’s presidential nominee, believing she would have a better chance against GOP nominee Donald Trump. Harris, for her part, has remained completely loyal to Biden and has been one of his staunchest defenders in the wake of the disastrous debate performance.
Oakley Graham, a Democrat in Greenwood, Missouri, said that while he is “pretty happy” with Biden’s performance in office, he felt he would be more excited to support Harris at the top of the ticket and that it was “about time” a woman became 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, someone younger, step up and take charge. I hope that inspires a younger generation to be more involved.”
Black adults –- a key contingent of the Democratic coalition and a group that is relatively more favorable toward Biden than others are more likely than Americans generally to say Harris would do a good job.
Americans in general are more skeptical about how Harris would perform in the White House. Only about 3 in 10 U.S. adults overall say Harris would do a good job 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’s popularity is similar to Biden’s, but the share of Americans who have a negative opinion of her is slightly lower. The poll found that about 4 in 10 American adults have a positive opinion of Harris, while about half have a negative opinion. More Americans have a negative opinion of Biden: about 6 in 10. About 1 in 10 Americans say they don’t know enough to have an opinion about Harris, while almost everyone has an opinion about Biden.
About three-quarters of Democrats have a positive view of Harris, which is consistent with how Democrats view Biden. Seven in 10 have a positive view of him.
Shannon Bailey, a Democrat who lives in Tampa, praised Biden’s performance as president — particularly his infrastructure bill and efforts to curb inflation — and said he “will be remembered with fondness.” But she had a more positive view of Harris than the incumbent president, saying the vice president “seems better able to handle the taxing nature of the job,” Bailey said.
“It’s not just about physical endurance, it’s about cognitive reasoning ability right now,” said Bailey, 34. “It’s important to get the message across that is the Democratic platform right now, succinctly and persuasively.”
Bailey said the Democratic Party needs Harris and a running mate “who can really motivate people to get out and vote” — a task she is skeptical Biden can do as effectively.
Harris’ position as the administration’s top spokesperson on abortion has also endeared her to many Democrats.
“I think she would be a very strong advocate for abortion, and she has been and she will continue to be,” said Thomas Mattman, a Democrat from Chico, Calif. “The Republicans have chosen white males as their ticket, and both have said some pretty specific things about their opposition to abortion, so I think that would be a very strong argument.”
Mattman, 59, said he believes Biden will not be able to defeat Republican nominee Donald Trump — a prospect that makes Mattman “very upset.” Harris would be a much more effective candidate because Biden is unable to “put pressure” on his opponent and exploit his weaknesses, Mattman said.
Harris is more popular among black Americans than white or Hispanic adults. She is more hated by men than by women.
Other prominent Democrats who have been floated as possible replacements are less well-known than Harris. About 4 in 10 American adults have no opinion about the California governor. Gavin Newsomand half are unfamiliar with the governor of Michigan. Gretchen Whitmer. Newsom is generally viewed slightly more negatively than positively. Americans are about evenly divided on Whitmer: 24% have a positive opinion and 22% have an unfavorable opinion.
More Democrats see Harris as someone who would make a good president than Newsom or Whitmer, though that’s partly because they’re relatively unknown. About a third of Democrats say Newsom would make a good president, and half don’t know enough about him. About a quarter of Democrats say Whitmer would do a good job, and about two-thirds don’t know enough about him.
Trump’s running mate, senator JD Vance of Ohio, is unknown to most Americans. In the AP-NORC poll, which was conducted before Trump made Vance his vice presidential nominee, 6 in 10 Americans don’t know enough about him to form an opinion. About 2 in 10 American adults have a positive view of Vance, and about 2 in 10 have an unfavorable view of him. Among Republicans, 61 percent don’t know enough about Vance to form an opinion. About a quarter have a positive view of him, and about 1 in 10 have an unfavorable view.
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The poll of 1,253 adults was conducted July 11-15, 2024, using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.