Key Point: If voters continue to view Biden’s age as a problem, Kamala Harris could become a weight on his campaign because she will not be viewed as capable of becoming president in an emergency.
The Kamala Harris Problem, Explained
Increased scrutiny on President Joe Biden’s mental acuity could bring additional questions about Vice President Kamala Harris’ abilities should Biden become incapacitated or die in office.
A Washington Post/ABC News poll from a few months ago found that only 35% of Americans believe that Joe Biden has the mental sharpness for a second term in office.
Stories about Biden staring into space, not knowing where he is and what he is doing work against him. The same poll found that although Donald Trump is advanced in age at 77, voters believe that he has greater mental sharpness than Biden, at 54%.
Vice presidential candidates have historically not mattered much when it comes to whom voters choose. They vote for the person at the top of the ticket.
A 2012 study by the Harvard Kennedy School found the historical impact of a vice presidential candidate on the race was negligible.
“The net effect of a vice presidential candidate is generally less than 1% in terms of getting voters to cross party lines: “Only in 1972 was more than 1% of the final vote affected by conflicted vice presidential and presidential preferences; on average, over the 1968-2008 period, the net impact of conflicted presidential and vice presidential choices is only slightly less than 0.6% of the votes shifted,” the study said.
But the president’s age has many Americans looking at Harris and scratching their heads.
An Economist/YouGov poll from a few months ago put Harris’ approval rating at 41% among those aged 18-29. Among Hispanic voters, her approval stood at 36%
Kamala Harris Doesn’t Inspire Confidence
Kamala Harris has not engendered confidence among Democrats, let alone among Republicans, who have slammed her handling of the border crisis.
Biden placed Harris in charge of managing the federal response to border issues shortly after the two came into office in 2021.
“There needs to be an individual who is dedicated to do the decompression strategy for the federal government. Someone should be at these entry points: El Paso, Brownsville, Texas, and others, too, to organize a real decompression strategy across the entire country,” New York Mayor Eric Adams said regarding Harris’ competency in March. “One person should, we should be looking at — it is often stated that as the role of the VP has too much in her portfolio to be focused on just doing that decompression strategy. If not, the decompression strategy can’t be New York City.”
Biden called her at one point a “work in progress.”
Her oratory has occasionally called some to wonder if she is drunk.
Republicans Smell Blood in the Water
Republican pollster and former Trump White House aide Kellyanne Conway tore into Kamala Harris during an appearance on Fox News back in the spring.
“She is the ‘least improved player’ of the Biden Administration and also the least engaged,” Conway said. “The vice president’s accomplishments are few, her gaffes many; she suffers from high staff turnover and complaints that she does not put in the work necessary to be second in command.”
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris confer together Monday, March 29, 2021, in the outer Oval hallway of the White House. (Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz)
“Polls show that most Americans agree,” she continued. “Harris’ approval ratings are even poorer than Biden’s. It’s hard not to wince when she speaks, and even harder not to worry, given that her boss is every minute of 80 years old.”
Vice President Kamala Harris delivers remarks at the 40th Annual Black History Month Virtual Celebration, hosted by Congressman Steny Hoyer of Maryland, Saturday, Feb. 27, 2021, in the South Court Auditorium of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building at the White House. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)
If voters continue to view Biden’s age as a problem, Kamala Harris could become a weight on his campaign because she will not be viewed as capable of becoming president in an emergency.
John Rossomando was a senior analyst for Defense Policy 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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