Vice President Kamala Harris has been President Joe Biden's natural successor as the Democratic candidate in the 2024 election, top Democrats say. Harris, 59, a former US senator and California attorney general, would be the first woman to become president of the United States if she were the party's nominee and prevailed in the November 5 election. She is the first African American and Asian person to serve as vice president.
Harris was born to Shyamala Gopalan, who was born in Chennai and came to the US to pursue a doctoral program at UC Berkeley. On Sunday, Biden endorsed Harris as the Democratic presidential nominee for the upcoming election. "My fellow Democrats, I have decided not to accept the nomination and to focus all my energies on my duties as President for the remainder of my term. My very first decision as the party nominee in 2020 was to pick Kamala Harris as my Vice President. And it’s been the best decision I’ve made. Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year. Democrats — it’s time to come together and beat Trump. Let’s do this," Biden said in a post.
Lacklustre start
Her three-and-a-half-year White House tenure has been characterised by a lacklustre start, staff turnover, and early policy portfolios including migration from Central America that did not produce major successes. As recently as last year, many inside the White House and the Biden campaign team privately worried Harris was a liability for the campaign. The situation has changed significantly since then, Democratic officials have said, as she stepped forward on abortion rights and courted young voters.
What do polls suggest for Harris?
Recent polls suggest Harris could do better than Biden against Trump, the Republican candidate, although she would face a tight contest. Influential Democrats including US Representative Jim Clyburn, the man who was key to Biden's 2020 win; Republican Gregory Meeks, a New York congressman and senior member of the Congressional Black Caucus and Summer Lee, a House Democrat from Pennsylvania have signaled Harris would be the best option to lead the ticket.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has also privately signalled the same to lawmakers, a Congressional aide said. And some on Wall Street, an important Democratic fundraising centre, are starting to indicate her as a preference. A majority of Americans see Harris in a negative light, as they do both men running for president.
Polling outlet Five Thirty-Eight said 37.1% of voters approve of Harris and 49.6% disapprove. Those numbers compare to 36.9% and 57.1% for Biden, and 38.6% and 53.6% for Trump.
Impact of Kamala Harris?
Since the Supreme Court repealed women's constitutional right to abortion in 2022, Harris has become the Biden administration's foremost voice on reproductive rights, an issue Democrats are betting on to help them win the 2024 election. Some Democrats believe Harris could energize Democratic-leaning groups whose enthusiasm for Biden has faded, including Black voters, young voters and those who do not approve of Biden's handling of the Israel-Hamas war.
As vice president, Harris's public Israel strategy is identical to Biden's, although she was the first senior leader of the US government to call for a ceasefire in March. Harris may struggle to reel in moderate Democrats and the independent voters who like Biden's centrist policies, some Democratic donors said. Both parties seek independents to help pull them over the finishing line in presidential elections.
Harris would take over money raised by the Biden campaign and inherit campaign infrastructure, a critical advantage with just four months before election day on November 5. But any Democratic campaign still needs to raise hundreds of millions of dollars more before November to be successful, strategists say. And there, Harris could be a liability. Harris's prosecutorial background could shine in a head-to-head debate against Trump, some Democrats said.
(With inputs from agency)
