REBEKA ZELJKO
Democrats would overwhelmingly support Vice President Kamala Harris as nominee if President Joe Biden drops out of the race, according to an Economist/YouGov poll released Thursday.
Despite her dismal approval ratings among all voters, 79% of Democrats said they would support Harris as the party’s nominee if Biden withdrew from the race, according to the poll. However, less than a third of Democratic voters believe Harris would be more likely than Biden to defeat former President Donald Trump in the November election.
Talks of replacing the presumptive nominee have grown since Biden’s disastrous debate performance on June 27, prompting many prominent Democrats to publicly call for him to step down.
Over half of Americans, 51%, said Biden should definitely or probably bow out of the race to make room for an alternative Democratic nominee, according to the poll. Among the Democrats who said Biden should step aside, 68% cited concerns about his age, health or cognitive function.
Still, Harris fares worse than other potential Biden replacements against Trump, according to a BlueLabs poll Politico reported on Wednesday. Candidates like Harris who are tied closely to the administration perform worse than alternatives like Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, which may indicate that voters are looking for a fresh face altogethe
Among Democrats, roughly 28% said that Harris is more likely to beat Trump while 32% said the vice president would be just as likely as Biden to win against the former president, according to the poll. Nearly a quarter, 24%, said she is less likely to defeat Trump in November.
Although she is second in line, Harris has consistently ranked low in her popularity and approval ratings. Most recently, Harris had a 51% disapproval rating compared to just a 39% approval rating, according to the poll.
Harris’s disapproval rating has eclipsed her approval since September of 2021, and has steadily remained around or above 50% since then, according to polling averages from FiveThirtyEight.
Biden has reiterated that he will stay in the race, saying that he will only consider dropping out if he has a medical condition, according to The New York Times. Biden has since tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday.
The Economist/YouGov poll surveyed 1,582 respondents from July 13 to July 16 with a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points.
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