Is the Biden-Harris ticket over?
Democratic consultants are questioning whether a “dead” President Joe Biden is better than an alternative nominee like Vice President Kamala Harris.
Harris is the leading alternative to replace Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket, according to seven senior sources from the Biden campaign, the White House, and the Democratic National Committee (DNC), as reported by Reuters on Wednesday.
Their claim is supported by recent polling.
A CNN poll released on Tuesday found Harris polling three points better than other Democrats against former President Donald Trump.
Kamala is deeply unpopular
However, political experts suggest that Democrats might be stuck with Biden for three reasons: the challenge of replacing Biden on 50 state ballots, the difficulty of moving money behind a new candidate, and the challenge of finding a candidate who would likely be a sacrificial lamb to run in Biden’s place.
Harris’s approval rating is extremely low, at 39 percent, below the 50 percent threshold that incumbents historically need to win reelection.
She also failed as the border czar to secure the open southern border.
“Kamala Harris is more threatening to those swing voters than a dead Joe Biden or a comatose Joe Biden,” James Carville countered on a private call with fellow Democrats, according to Semafor.
“So, if Joe has to go, it’s gonna be Kamala, and if it’s Kamala, it’s gonna be harder.”
During the hour-long conversation, a Democratic donor expressed concern that Trump would easily defeat Biden and asked what could be done to replace him.
“What can we, as donors, do to encourage the change in the ticket?” the donor asked.
“Continuing to have President Biden at the top of this ticket is giving people an excuse to vote for Donald Trump,” a second donor said.
“If you wake Joe Biden at three o’clock in the morning and ask him who’s president, does he get it right?” a third asked.
Kamala > Biden in the betting markets, first time ever pic.twitter.com/SPPjQaKEAc
— matthew sigel, recovering CFA (@matthew_sigel) July 3, 2024
Conflicting data
A majority of Democratic voters believe Biden is not their best chance of defeating Trump, according to the CNN poll: “Most Democrats and Democratic-leaning registered voters (56%) say the party has a better shot at the presidency with someone other than Biden, while 43% say the party stands a better chance with him.”
Biden has vowed to stay in the race, and his campaign has cited internal polling as a reason for him to remain.
But many fear this could just be vanity or stubbornness more than anything.
Because a CBS News/YouGov poll found that 72 percent of registered voters believe Biden does not have the “mental” and “cognitive health” to serve as president, up seven points after the debate.
Stay tuned to Silent Majority Report.
