Biden’s Re-Election Bid Increases the Stakes for Harris

Most Americans don't think Biden's capable of finishing a second term. That makes the premise of "President Harris" a potentially big issue.

There were lots of reasons the vast majority of Americans — around 70% according to a recent poll — didn’t want President Joe Biden to run for re-election. Inflation remains a serious issue, economic numbers continue to disappoint, crime and violence are on the rise, problems persist at the border, Afghanistan is still on people’s minds, and Biden just doesn’t instill a lot of confidence that he’s up for the job.

One of the reasons for that last concern is the man’s age. At 80, Biden’s already the oldest elected president in U.S. history. If he wins next year, he’ll be 82 at the time of his swearing-in. And between his careful movements, lost gazes, worsening rhetorical confusion, and simply his appearance, he doesn’t exactly present as a young 80.

That’s not Biden’s fault, of course; we all age.

What is his fault is his failure to effectively read the room, consider his limitations, and recognize that — in addition to his chronic unpopularity with voters, Americans’ dismay with the direction of the country, and his own party’s diminishing confidence in him (even most Democrats didn’t want him to run again) — the age factor is a big deal. Most voters, in fact, don’t believe Biden is capable of completing a second term.

That perception degrades the natural political advantages Biden has as an incumbent, and places increased emphasis on the importance of having a strong, capable vice president to — if needed — take the reins.

Unfortunately, “strong” and “capable” aren’t adjectives that immediatey come to mind for most people when assessing Biden’s current vice president, Kamala Harris.

It’s not just the anecdotal stuff, like Harris’s aimless, rambling oratories and her deflective cackling (in response to serious questions she clearly has no answer to). We’ve also seen an increasing number of reports on the Biden administration’s lack of faith in her leadership abilities, work ethic, grasp of issues, and political viability.

America sees it too. According to the polls, she’s even less popular than Biden.

A big part of Harris’s political attractiveness in 2020 was her presumed ability to appeal to minority voters, but recent polling suggests she’s under-performing with both African-Americans and Hispanics. And taken as a whole, it’s hard to see how she would be anything other than a drag on the ticket this time around.

But like it or not, I think Biden is stuck with her. While remaining tethered to Harris presents its own political risks, cutting her loose could potentially cause even more damage. It would invite charges of racism and sexism, not just from progressives, but also from Republicans (who would be more than happy to stand on the other end of a political weapon often used against them).

While such a change probably wouldn’t compel anyone (who wasn’t already going to) to vote for the Republican ticket, it might tamp down support for the Democratic side. And with Biden already asking a lot from disenchanted voters who didn’t want him to run in the first place, it could be a politically fatal decision.

Conventional wisdom is that no one votes for a president based on his or her running mate. But next year, thanks to Joe Biden, the bottom of the ticket could indeed be a major factor.