Vice President Kamala Harris is the top alternative to replace President Joe Biden atop the Democrat ticket, seven senior sources from the Biden campaign, the White House, and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) told Reuters Wednesday.
The leak to Reuters represents frustration within the Biden campaign, which is reeling from a poor debate performance and subsequent calls for Biden to drop out of the race.
This is the fourth damning leak against Biden in two days. Previous leaks highlighted information about Biden’s nap schedule during debate prep, fear among staffers to speak to Biden due to anger flashes, and former President Barack Obama’s concern about Biden’s political viability. The White House claimed the first two leaks were false.
Harris appears to be the top choice because Biden’s donations can most easily be transferred to his vice president. She also enjoys the greatest name identification and the best polling numbers against former President Donald Trump, according to a Tuesday CNN poll, the sources told Reuters.
Kamala > Biden in the betting markets, first time ever pic.twitter.com/SPPjQaKEAc
— matthew sigel, recovering CFA (@matthew_sigel) July 3, 2024
Challenges remain, however. 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.
Political experts suggest that Democrats might be stuck with Biden for three reasons: the challenge of replacing Biden on 50 state ballots, the challenge 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.
“People may have dreams of another superhero, but there is a process, and the last time I checked, it’s a Biden-Harris ticket. She’s number two on the ticket,” said Donna Brazile, the former interim chair of the DNC. Biden remains the nominee for the Democrat Party and “is not going anywhere.”
Not everyone agrees with Brazile. “It’s pretty near impossible to win the nomination over the vice president,” Michael Trujillo, a former Hillary Clinton Democrat strategist, said in support of Harris.
“All of the delegates are not just Joe Biden delegates, they are Kamala Harris delegates,” Trujillo explained. “She will have a sizable delegation and support in all 50 states on day one.”
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Courtesy of CNN Presidential Debate
Wendell Husebo is a political reporter with Breitbart News and a former GOP War Room Analyst. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality. Follow Wendell on “X” @WendellHusebø or on Truth Social @WendellHusebo.
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