Status: 11/22/2022 10:45 a.m
It is still unclear whether US President Biden will stand again in the 2024 election. But who would be an alternative for the Democrats? Vice President Harris has faded and isn’t very popular – but don’t write her off just yet.
A good two years ago, Kamala Harris’ video went around the world. While jogging, she learned that Joe Biden had won the presidential election and that she would be vice president. “We did it Joe,” Harris said, and laughed. The first female vice president of the USA, the first black person to hold office with Indian-Jamaican roots, a beacon of hope for many.
But she remained pale, could not set her own topics – and is not very popular. In surveys, their approval ratings are currently around 40 percent.
“Vice Presidents Go Under the Radar”
But that’s not due to Harris’ mistakes, says political scientist Michael Cornfield from George Washington University. Vice Presidents ran under the radar in the US. It’s not her fault, it’s a vice president’s dilemma. Harris doesn’t look so bad compared to other vice presidents. She doesn’t get particularly good press, but she doesn’t get particularly bad press either, and other vice presidents have often been the target of ridicule.
Harris doesn’t get mocked in the media, but the question keeps popping up: where is Harris? And she was almost constantly on the road during the Midterms election campaign, supporting democratic candidates and speaking to students. But others got the attention: ex-President Barack Obama, for example, or ex-President Donald Trump.
Many themes – but nothing stands out
Harris also positioned himself in the discussion about the overturned abortion law and organized round tables. In an interview with NBC television, she called the Supreme Court activist and concerned about the integrity of the court as a whole. But that too received little attention.
Harris was officially assigned by Biden to take care of the migration crisis and electoral reform. “It’s almost impossible to get points on these issues,” explains the politics professor. Harris is not in a good position should Biden decide not to run for a second term.
“Harris’ time is yet to come”
The Democrats didn’t hate them, they didn’t ignore them, Cornfield said. But Harris has nothing to brag about. Four other Democrats would have significantly better chances: Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and California Governor Gavin Newsom. The political scientist grants the governor of Michigan, Gretchen Withmer, the best chance. Her nickname is Big Gretch, she is a big number.
But he doesn’t write off Harris. On the contrary, their time will come. Harris would be a top candidate for the Democrats – 2028 or 2032. She still has time.
And should Biden run and win again in the upcoming presidential elections – the 58-year-old would remain vice president, the politics professor is convinced of that. Biden owes the 2020 election in large part to black voters. “Writing off Harris would be political suicide,” Cornfield said.