{"id":31526,"date":"2024-07-09T20:18:48","date_gmt":"2024-07-09T20:18:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/?p=31526"},"modified":"2024-07-09T20:18:48","modified_gmt":"2024-07-09T20:18:48","slug":"if-biden-steps-aside-kamala-is-favorite-to-replace-him","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/2024\/07\/09\/if-biden-steps-aside-kamala-is-favorite-to-replace-him\/","title":{"rendered":"If Biden steps aside, Kamala is favorite to replace him"},"content":{"rendered":"

Desk report: <\/strong>US President Joe Biden insists that only \u201cthe Lord Almighty\u201d can convince him to quit the presidential race. But should he change his mind, Vice President Kamala Harris is by far the best positioned to replace him.<\/p>\n

Harris would have a head start over several of the most discussed Democratic alternatives like California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. She\u2019s already been on a winning presidential ticket with Biden, has years of goodwill banked with core party constituencies and would likely control a huge campaign fund amassed by the Biden reelection.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a closer look at her prospects in a potential open primary:<\/p>\n

She\u2019d be Biden\u2019s most natural endorsement
\nThe president easily locked up the Democratic nomination and party rules prevent him from simply transferring the delegates he amassed during next month\u2019s Democratic National Convention. But a number of delegates have already suggested they\u2019d be loyal to Harris.<\/p>\n

Biden picking Harris could limit potential chaos and avoid floor fights that do lasting damage to whoever emerges to take on Republican Donald Trump.<\/p>\n

\u201cHarris makes the most sense to carry on the Biden legacy,\u201d said Andrew Feldman, a Democratic strategist who works closely with various state parties and stressed that the question was purely hypothetical since Biden insists he won\u2019t bow out.<\/p>\n

Feldman added that the Biden administration\u2019s agenda \u201chas been tremendously popular in terms of the issues that they\u2019ve championed\u201d and that the president and Harris have \u201cbeen doing that in partnership.\u201d<\/p>\n

Antjuan Seawright, a South Carolina-based Democratic strategist, noted that voters four years ago put 78-year-old Biden in the Oval Office knowing Harris was next in line, and that Biden warded off primary challengers this year at age 81 with Democratic voters knowing Harris remained his second-in-command.<\/p>\n

\u201cDemocrats have voted for Joe Biden with Kamala Harris,\u201d Seawright said.<\/p>\n

Challenging Harris as Biden\u2019s alternative is risky
\nHarris is the first woman to serve as vice president as well as the first Black woman and person of South Asian descent. African Americans are Democrats\u2019 largest and most loyal bloc of supporters.<\/p>\n

Bypassing a historic No. 2 for anyone else \u2014 even a popular alternative from a key swing state \u2014 would already be difficult. Being seen as leading the charge against someone who broke gender and racial barriers could forever mark the challenger as disloyal in future Democratic primaries.<\/p>\n

Glynda Carr, who leads the Higher Heights political action committee which supports Black female candidates across the country, said that public suggestions that Harris could be bypassed for another top Democrat in Biden\u2019s absence shows \u201cjust how much Black women are oftentimes overlooked.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou want Black women to organize our houses, our blocks, our churches, our sororities?\u201d Carr asked. \u201cThen we\u2019ve got to stand by our leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n

Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas said it is \u201cimpossible to understate\u201d what it means for Black women to see Harris hold national office.<\/p>\n

Democrats with national ambitions may not want a rushed campaign
\nSince Biden\u2019s disastrous debate, Democrats have mentioned a parade of top alternatives who could run in the president\u2019s place. In addition to Whitmer and Newsom, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Illinois Gov. J. B. Pritzker have been the subject of rumors. All of them have said they\u2019ll continue to back Biden.<\/p>\n

But, in dozens of interviews, Democratic operatives, pollsters and elected officials report that there has not been the kind of furious political jockeying for support for someone other than Harris at the convention that would be necessary if Biden were to step aside. Any such discussions have occurred quietly and preliminarily and would almost certainly be forced out in the open if Biden were to leave the race, making continuing them more difficult.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone would rather be a starter than a pinch hitter,\u201d Feldman said.<\/p>\n

For instance, Democratic fundraising bundler Barry Goodman, a Michigan attorney who was a finance co-chairman for both of Whitmer\u2019s statewide campaigns, said he did not know of any coordinated effort on the governor\u2019s part to rally support.<\/p>\n

Harris will have money to start
\nFurther possibly helping to smooth a switch from Biden to Harris is campaign finances. The vice president, as his official running mate, can access the $91 million cash on hand the president\u2019s campaign has raised \u2014 which grows to $240 million when including allied Democratic organizations \u2014 in ways Democratic alternatives likely can\u2019t.<\/p>\n

For his part, Trump is already attempting to energize donors with the idea that Democrats could swap out Biden for Harris. The former president sent fundraising emails Monday titled \u201cBiden\u2019s dropping out\u201d and \u201cPresident Kamala Harris?\u201d<\/p>\n

Her legal background might resonate more than it once did
\nAt 59, the vice president is 22 years Biden\u2019s junior. A former prosecutor, she can deliver a withering attack in a debate \u2014 as Biden himself once faced during the 2020 Democratic presidential primary when Harris tore into him over his onetime opposition to school busing as a means of desegregation.<\/p>\n

The vice president\u2019s legal background might also hew more closely to the ideals of today\u2019s Democratic Party, which has largely moved to the center on criminal justice and law-and-order messaging in recent years after nationwide protests against racial injustice in 2020 helped energize the \u201cdefund the police\u201d movement.<\/p>\n

Biden has seen his approval rating fall sharply among Black Americans, a trend Harris would hope to reverse before November. Still, Biden has long struggled with low approval ratings among Americans more generally and the vice president doesn\u2019t fare much better.<\/p>\n

About 39% of U.S. adults have a very or somewhat favorable opinion of the vice president, which is in line with Biden\u2019s 40% favorability. But an AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll conducted in June found that slightly fewer have an unfavorable view of Harris, 49% compared to Biden\u2019s 57%.<\/p>\n

Harris has a 62% favorability among Black Americans compared to 37% for Hispanic Americans and 35% for white Americans. Those are all similar to Biden\u2019s, though there could be more opportunity for her to shape opinions. Roughly 12% of U.S. adults said they aren\u2019t familiar enough with Harris to give an opinion, whereas nearly everyone has an opinion of Biden.<\/p>\n

Source: BangladeshDailyOnline<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Desk report: US President Joe Biden insists that only “the Lord Almighty” can convince him to quit the presidential race. But should he change his mind, Vice President Kamala Harris is by far the best positioned to replace him. Harris would have a head start over several of the most discussed Democratic alternatives like California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. She’s already been on a winning presidential ticket with Biden, has years of goodwill banked with core party constituencies and would likely control a huge campaign fund<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":31527,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[30,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31526"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31526"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31526\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31528,"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31526\/revisions\/31528"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31527"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}