After last week’s messy debate, Vice President Kamala Harris immediately doubled down on her support of President Biden.
Biden had a slow start, “but it was a strong finish,” she told CNN’s Anderson Cooper in a post-debate interview. And why focus on a one-and-a-half hour debate, she added, when the country has “about three-and-a-half years of performance in work that has been historic.”
Still, voters aren’t so sure. A new poll by Politico analyzed the views of 374 Democratic-leaning voters before and after the debate. According to the data, 65% of voters before the debate reported that they would vote for Biden, compared to after the debate, when only 54% reported that Biden won — with some using terms like “confused,” “frail” and “dementia” to describe his performance.
With Biden’s poor debate performance, experts agree that there is a lot at stake for the Democratic party and that they should focus their efforts heavily on campaigning – especially Harris, who is nearly two decades younger than Biden. Wendy Schiller, a professor of political science and public policy at Brown University, says she doesn’t think the party can “damage-control that kind of debate,” and leaving Biden out of the next one “is a smart thing to do.” But another important task at hand is to “get Kamala Harris on the road,” she says.
“I find her to be a good campaigner on the road,” Schiller says. “When she’s on the road and she’s talking to women, she’s talking to young people, talking to Black voters — she’s an asset to the Biden campaign. And right now, we need assets.”
Support and the Biden-Harris Image
While Biden’s questionable performance caused an uproar in the Democratic party, experts have mixed opinions on whether or not it will ultimately impact Harris’ image. Schiller suspects that Biden’s poor debate performance may have made Harris “look a little bit better.” That could be important, as support of Black voters is declining in the party, she adds, whereas Trump is making “inroads in that community.” Politico recently reported that Biden’s favorability among Black voters declined from 63% to 31%, while that of Harris – the first vice president of color –stands at 67%. .
According to Schiller, Biden previously showed loyalty to Harris when there were calls to replace her, and when she “was going to drag him down,” she says. “Now, it’s a little bit reversed, and she’s returning the loyalty.” Harris is also going to “put herself in contention to be the presidential candidate,” she adds.
On the other hand, Nadia Brown, a professor of government and chair of the women’s and gender studies program at Georgetown University, says Biden’s performance didn’t reflect “on Harris whatsoever.” She also says Harris must look like she supports Biden, based on ongoing conversations that are happening in the Democratic party.
“You can’t be the VP…and differ from the messaging from the campaign — knowing that for many people, it would be Kamala Harris’ opportunity to run for president,” Brown says. If Harris “were to say something negative, she would look like an opportunist,” she adds. “It would be ill-timed and it would be, I think, poorly received.”
Brown also says it’s a “fine line to toe” since people are discussing replacing Biden with California Gov. Gavin Newsom or Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, “bypassing Kamala altogether.” While Brown calls Harris an “effective and impressive vice presidential candidate,” she says that Harris was undermined through the criticism she received during the nominee process in 2020.
“Then top that with the media’s ability to pick up on more lighthearted moments that she’s having,” like when Harris was filmed dancing at the 50th anniversary of hip-hop celebration last September, causing some online to label the video as “pure cringe.” Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan also criticized Harris’ joyfulness and dancing while campaigning in Florida during 2020. This, Brown says, plays into a “sexist role” that women are only good for jovial moments but aren’t suitable to deal with harder things.
According to Lilly Goren, a professor of political science at Carroll University, a private college in Waukesha, Wisconsin, Biden’s performance will more so impact the Democratic Party’s ticket image. While the debate was rough “on all sides,” Biden did not appear robust, she says. Now, “there’s question about the strength of the ticket in general, and Harris is part of that ticket.” Harris’ strong defense of Biden also exhibits a role vice presidents often perform, so Harris was “doing what was expected,” Goren adds.
The Journey Heading into November
Experts agree that Harris will play an important role on the campaign trail leading up to November.
While debates are viewed by millions of people, campaigns usually target particular areas, Goren says. Both, she adds, have a national component. Goren, who lives in a swing state, says Trump and Harris have recently visited the state to hold events and talk directly to voters.
Messaging is also an important component.
“This is an unpopular administration,” Brown says. “Although they have done so much, they’re not great on messaging.”
Schiller agrees. The Democratic party’s job is to take what Biden said at the debate along with the work he’s done while in office and “turn it into successful campaign messaging against the Republican Party,” she says.
Schiller is hopeful the Democratic party “can recover from this and the party itself can remain viable in November,” she adds.
With all the work that lies ahead, Harris’s support of the president remains clear.
“I think it’s also important to recognize that the choice in November between these two people that were on the debate stage, involves extraordinary stakes,” Harris told CNN’s Cooper. “And there’s one person on the stage who has the endorsement of their Vice President — and that’s Joe Biden.”
