Poll: Support for Harris lags behind Biden’s
WASHINGTON – Despite efforts by the White House to rehabilitate Vice President Kamala Harris’ image, she continues to struggle winning over Americans outside of the Democratic tent, an exclusive USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll shows.
The national survey found 52% of registered voters disapprove of her job performance as President Joe Biden’s vice president.
About 36% approve of how she’s handling the role, trailing Biden’s almost equally dismal 41% approval rating.
Asked to weigh Harris’ personal popularity, the numbers don’t get much better.
Roughly 38% of Americans have a favorable view of Harris, lagging behind Biden, who is viewed favorably by 41% of registered voters. Former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, was viewed favorably by 40% of respondents in the poll.
Democratic allies warned Biden’s team a year ago about the need to boost Harris and clap back against the withering effectiveness of Republican attacks.
Now, with the general election informally underway at a time when the age and acuity of both presumptive presidential nominees is being driven to the forefront, experts say questions about Harris − and eventually Trump’s running mate − will only get louder.
“Usually, it’s a secondary and muted discussion about vice presidents. This time, it’s going to be almost a parallel and loud discussion in comparison,” said David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center.
“I think she’s very smart. I think she’s confident,” said Alissa Morris, 49, an administrator of a developmental disabilities program in Ronkonkoma, New York, and Democrat who plans to vote for Biden. “She knows what she’s doing. I think her role that she’s in now does not take full advantage of her abilities.”
Republican Rose Marie Livings isn’t as forgiving. She pointed to Biden tapping Harris to lead efforts to address migration at the U.S.-Mexico border amid the ongoing migrant crisis.
“She’s pathetic,” said Livings, 87, a retired public school administrator in Vero Beach, Florida. “She was supposed to deal with the border.”
Harris’ poll numbers have long been a sore spot for the White House and Democrats, who often say she is unfairly judged as the first Black and South Asian woman to hold the office.
The vice president’s detractors say she’s failed to define an effective role in the administration.
Along with the thorny tasks of solving Central American migration along the southern border, her assignments have included ensuring voting rights amid a barrage of new state election laws.
She has also led the White House’s charge on restoring abortion rights after the 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade.
Harris has shined as the White House’s culture warrior-in-chief, leaning into progressive causes such as slamming Florida’s education guidelines targeting Black history last summer.
Recently, she has emerged as one of the administration’s leading voices pushing Israel to do more to limit Palestinian casualties in its war against Hamas and to get humanitarian aid into Gaza.
Harris hasn’t publicly sweated poll numbers or GOP-fueled attacks, saying in a recent interview: “I am ready to serve. There’s no question about that.”
This latest poll, however, shows voters still have their doubts: 54% of survey respondents said Harris isn’t qualified to serve as president versus 38% who believe she has what it takes.
Republican Nathan Conder, 59, a retired veteran who lives in Freeport, Illinois, said she “just seems invisible to me most of the time.”
The poll isn’t all doom and gloom for Harris, who is immensely popular among fellow Democrats.
Overall, 76% of voters who identified as Democrats approve of Harris’ job performance which slightly trails the 84% of Democratic voters who approve of Biden’s performance in office.