Joe Biden has a California problem. His vice president, Kamala Harris, is wildly unpopular and viewed as a drag on his re-election prospects. She has a 38.8 percent approval rating according to FiveThirtyEight, which is lower than his own.
On the other hand, he must contend with California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who appears to have developed dementia and has serious cognitive issues, and is seen as deadweight in the Democratic caucus.
One suggested solution to his Harris problem often mentioned has been getting Feinstein to resign.
She has thus far refused to do so.
Feinstein has indicated she will not leave office until her current unexpired fifth term ends this year.
Could Joe Biden Send Feinstein and Harris Packing?
Los Angeles Times columnist George Skelton suggests that if Feinstein were to quit the Senate then Gov. Gavin Newsom could appoint the vice president to finish her unexpired term. That would give Biden an opportunity to appoint a more popular alternative to Harris.
“Biden would need to invite her into the Oval Office for a heart-to-heart. She has been a terrific senator with lots to be proud of, but it’s time to let go — for the country’s sake, the state’s and her own — he’d urge, speaking as a longtime senator himself and a former colleague,” Skelton writes. “Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) would need to strongly second the motion. Then would come an even harder task for Biden.”
He notes that Joe Biden chose her as his running mate due to her relationship with his late son, Beau.
“Biden would need to admit that he erred in choosing Harris in the first place. He felt politically obligated to name a Black woman in 2020. But he could have picked the more likable Karen Bass, the California congresswoman who later was elected Los Angeles mayor,” Skelton writes. “Biden apparently selected Harris largely because of an expected comfort level based on her close working relationship with his late son, Beau, when they were both state attorneys general.”
Kamala Harris is Not Going Anywhere
Harris will not go voluntarily. Any why would she at this point?
The Biden campaign released a memo on the third anniversary of her selection as Biden’s running mate to reaffirm her place on the ticket for 2024.
The last time an incumbent president replaced his running mate and went on to win re-election was when Franklin Roosevelt replaced Henry Wallace with Harry Truman in 1944.
“As we enter the heart of the 2024 cycle, Vice President Harris is positioned once again to be a strong political force and invaluable asset to the Biden-Harris reelection effort,” according to the memo written by campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez and senior adviser Becca Siegel, who oversaw the 2020 campaign’s analytics.
The memo notes that Harris has strength among non-white voters and low-income Americans.
Biden noted last week that “picking Kamala as my eventual vice president was one of the best decisions I made as a presidential nominee.”
He referred to Harris “the perfect choice,” claiming that he like her for her “fighting tooth and nail for what’s right.”
Democrats see Kamala Harris as a viable attack dog in the wake of her attack on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and her out-of-context characterization of the state’s Black history curriculum.
“No one has been more articulate and effective in advancing the pro-choice position, in slamming the right-wing anti-woke movement or, most recently, in making the case that democracy is at risk. “When a democracy is intact, it strengthens the people. It protects and fights for fundamental freedoms, individual rights. It’s a fight for order against chaos,” Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin writes.
John Rossomando is a defense and counterterrorism analyst and served as Senior Analyst for Counterterrorism at The Investigative Project on Terrorism for eight years. His work has been featured in numerous publications such as The American Thinker, The National Interest, National Review Online, Daily Wire, Red Alert Politics, CNSNews.com, The Daily Caller, Human Events, Newsmax, The American Spectator, TownHall.com, and Crisis Magazine. He also served as senior managing editor of The Bulletin, a 100,000-circulation daily newspaper in Philadelphia, and received the Pennsylvania Associated Press Managing Editors first-place award for his reporting.
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