President Biden delivers State of the Union address to US Congress
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The most likely alternative to US President Joe Biden’s candidacy in the election remains Vice President Kamala Harris, the Wall Street Journal assessed. It noted that despite Harris’ poor ratings, omitting the first black woman would be met with anger by a significant portion of Democratic Party activists and voters.
Although Biden has signaled he has no intention of dropping out of the race for the presidency, speculation is rife regarding who might replace him as the Democratic nominee following a poor performance in last week’s debate, the newspaper reported Tuesday.
Various candidates have been mentioned – including California Governor Gavin Newsom, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro – but by far the most likely alternative to Biden remains Harris, who would also inherit Biden’s campaign budget and staff if Biden were to step down.
The WSJ noted that Harris’ poll ratings are almost the same or even worse than the president’s, but she is popular among key groups of the Democratic Party’s electorate – women and African-Americans, and omitting her candidacy would lead to resentment and divisions in the party.
“She’s ready to be president… I would be furious if someone tried to bypass the vice president,” Keith Williams, head of African-American Democratic caucuses in the key swing state of Michigan, told the newspaper. Jim Clyburn, one of the most senior Democrats and a leader of black lawmakers in Congress, echoed that sentiment.
Harris herself appeared several times in the media and at campaign rallies following Biden’s debate performance, defending the president, arguing that one appearance should not erase his entire body of work.
The vice president technically has almost no constitutional powers beyond presiding over the Senate, but Harris — originally assigned primarily to handle immigration — has become more involved in diplomacy and international affairs in recent months, including taking part in Biden’s phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and leading U.S. delegations to the Munich security conference and the recent peace conference on the war in Ukraine.
Biden’s campaign held a conference call with top campaign donors Sunday, NBC reported, seeking to allay their concerns regarding Biden’s ability to serve another four years in office. Still, some of them reportedly asked regarding alternative candidates and even asked for their money back. The donors were told that in a scenario where the president dropped out of the race, most of the campaign money would go to Harris.
Biden’s team also argues, citing polls, that the alternative candidates are worse off in a hypothetical duel with Trump. Two of the most frequently mentioned potential successors to Biden besides Harris, Newsom and Whitmer, have publicly supported the president and condemned calls for his resignation. However, according to Politico, Whitmer has assured Biden’s campaign that she is not seeking to replace the president, but has also warned that her pivotal state of Michigan is “unwinnable” for him following Biden’s debate performance.
