— A new poll shows she is within striking distance of former President Donald Trump
— A fierce debate is underway in the Democratic party over Biden’s candidacy since the CNN presidential debate
— Nothing can or will change until Biden himself chooses to step aside
New York: In an interesting turn of events, Indian-American vice-president Kamala Harris is emerging as a leading choice for Democrats to take over from President Joe Biden, 81, should he step aside. A CNN poll shows she is within striking distance of former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, in a head-to-head matchup.
In a hypothetical match-up, Harris is nearly tied with Trump, with 47 per cent of registered voters supporting the former president and 45 per cent backing the V-P. This result is within the margin of error, suggesting no clear leader in such a scenario. She performs better against Trump than her boss Biden, who trails the Republican nominee 43 per cent to 49 per cent.
Harris' slightly stronger showing against Trump rests at least in part on broader support from women (50 per cent of female voters back Harris over Trump vs 44 per cent for Biden against Trump) and independents (43 per cent Harris vs 34 per cent Biden), the polls said.
Former First Lady Michelle Obama leads Trump by a whopping 11 points in an Ipsos poll — 50 per cent to 39 per cent — though her office told NBC News in March she would not be running for president this year. Since the presidential debate, there has been increasing voices in the ruling Democratic party for Biden to step down and let someone else run the race for the November 5 presidential elections.
However, nothing can or will change until Biden himself chooses to step aside as he holds most of the party delegates who will meet in August to officially nominate him as the party candidate for the White House. These delegates are tied to him by party rules and they cannot switch their vote. Only Biden can change all this by stepping aside, but so far he and his campaign have appeared dug in and determined to ride out this storm, according to reports.
Should he change his mind, Harris will be a serious contender for his mantle. According to reports, other Democrats on the list of possible replacements include California governor Gavin Newsom, Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer, Illinois governor J B Pritzker (whose family owns the Hyatt hotel chain), Kentucky governor Andy Beshear, Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro and Maryland governor Wes Moore.
