Biden, Harris move toward re-election bid
President ‘convinced’ VP won’t beat Trump
US Vice President Kamala Harris may not have won over America in her first two years in office, but she is staying put at President Joe Biden’s side.
The first woman vice president is gearing up for another national campaign despite low poll ratings, a failure to win over the Washington establishment and concern among fellow Democrats about an underwhelming start in the job.
Ms Harris heads into a high pressure situation as Mr Biden, now 80, moves toward an unprecedented run for a second term as the first octogenarian in the Oval Office.
If he wins and becomes ill or cannot fulfil his duties, Ms Harris, 58, would succeed him. That reality will hang over their 2024 re-election bid.
While the pair have a good working relationship, Democratic sources say Mr Biden has frustrations about some of her work. He is also convinced that neither Ms Harris nor any other Democratic hopefuls would be able to beat ex-president Donald Trump if he is the GOP nominee, a factor that has influenced Mr Biden’s inclination to run again, one ex-White House official said.
“If he did not think she was capable, he would not have picked her. But it is a question of consistently rising to the occasion,” said the former official, speaking on condition of anonymity. “I think his running for re-election is less about her and more about him, but I do think that she and the Democratic bench [are] a factor.”
Ms Harris leaves on a trip to Africa later this week, a visit that may underscore her foreign policy credentials and generate the kind of positive headlines back home that have often eluded her.
When Mr Biden picked Ms Harris, only the second black woman ever elected to the US Senate, she was more popular than he was with women, young voters and even some Republicans, an August 2020 Reuters/Ipsos poll showed.
As vice president, though, she has a 39% favourability rating, according to an average by polling aggregator RealClearPolitics, below Mr Biden’s 42.3%.
Some Democrats, including people who have worked in Mr Biden’s West Wing, expressed disappointment that Ms Harris has not stepped up more on critical issues, taking advantage of her platform and inoculating herself — and her running mate — against the criticism that could overshadow their next campaign.
“I think this is actually one of the fundamental strategic challenges for [Mr Biden] ... how to navigate this,” said one Democrat with close ties to the White House, noting the implausibility of replacing Ms Harris on the presidential ticket. “It’s almost impossible for them to make a change.”
Mr Biden could lose crucial votes if he were to drop Ms Harris, who is both the first black and Asian-American US vice president.
“You cannot replace your first black woman vice president and think that black people and women are going to just vote for you,” the former White House official said. “He needs her.”
Mr Biden has said he intends to be the Democratic candidate in 2024 but has not made a formal announcement. Both Mr Biden and Ms Harris have said they will run together.