Most Democrats think Vice President Harris would do a good job in the Oval Office should Biden step down
With President Biden’s future uncertain, most Democrats believe the country would be in capable hands if Vice President Kamala Harris were to take over the White House.
A new poll from the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that about six in ten Democrats think Vice President Kamala Harris would do a good job as president. About two in ten Democrats don’t believe she would, and another two in ten say they don’t know enough to form an opinion.
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This survey comes amid increasing calls from Democratic officials for Biden to withdraw from the 2024 presidential election following his poor performance in the June 27 debate. These officials are concerned that voters doubt the 81-year-old president’s ability to perform his duties, and many suggest that Harris or another candidate would have a better chance against the Republican nominee, former President Trump.
Recent polls indicate that Democratic voters have grown disillusioned with Biden. A Suffolk University/Boston Globe poll of Massachusetts residents found that 64% of likely Democratic or Democratic-leaning voters prefer someone other than Biden to face Trump. Similarly, the AP-NORC national survey revealed that 65% of Democrats believe Biden should drop out of the race.
While Harris is considered a potential replacement on the ticket, she has publicly shown strong support for Biden, defending him against criticisms from concerned party officials.
However, if Harris, 59, were to replace Biden, Democratic voters would generally welcome the younger candidate. As a woman of color, she could advocate for the party’s stance on abortion rights and use her experience as a former state attorney general to campaign against Trump.
Harris could also energize key Democratic constituencies, including women and Black voters, who are more likely than the general American public to believe she would excel as president.
Americans outside the Democratic Party are more skeptical of Harris’s potential performance in the Oval Office. Only about three in ten Americans think Harris would be a good president, while nearly half believe she would not, and two in ten are undecided.
Harris’s favorability rating is similar to Biden’s, but fewer Americans oppose her. About four in ten U.S. adults view Harris favorably, while about half view her unfavorably. In contrast, about six in ten Americans have a negative view of Biden, with nearly everyone holding an opinion on him.
About three-quarters of Democrats have a positive view of Harris, which aligns with their views on Biden. Seven in ten Democrats view Biden favorably.
Harris is also better known among Democrats than other potential candidates, such as California Gov. Gavin Newsom or Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. About one-third of Democrats think Newsom would make a good president, but half don’t know enough to say. About one-quarter of Democrats believe Whitmer would do well, with about two-thirds unsure.
The AP poll of 1,253 adults was conducted from July 11-15, 2024, using a sample from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, designed to represent the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.