Former CNN political analyst Chris Cillizza said on Friday that Vice President Kamala Harris might not be a more viable candidate than President Joe Biden.
Many Americans, including former Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio have suggested Harris should take Biden’s place at the top of the Democratic ticket after the president’s abysmal June debate performance against former President Donald Trump. Cillizza said on his YouTube channel Friday that Biden and Harris have different strengths and weaknesses that make them about equally suitable to compete against Trump.
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“She can win, I think. Where would she help? I think she’d help with African-American voters, I think she’d help with younger voters because the whole age thing kind of goes off the board. If it is an issue, it’s more of an issue for Trump than for the Democratic candidate,” Cillizza said. “Where would she hurt? Unions potentially would be less for Kamala Harris than they are for Joe Biden. Hispanic voters, at least the polling I’ve seen, are a little less enthusiastic about Kamala Harris than they are about Joe Biden. She’s less proven, right? I mean, she hasn’t been the president of the United States, she hasn’t beaten Donald Trump, so like there’s that too.”
“But I think it’s effectively a wash. She’s stronger in some places, she’s weaker in some places … and I guess the argument would be if it is a wash, then just stay with Biden,” he continued. “I just think the age thing is going to be determinative. I could be wrong … It’s going to make it so that the whole conversation is a referendum on Biden as opposed to a referendum on Trump and I think Democrats lose that race.”
Trump leads Harris 46.1% to 45% in a head-to-head matchup, according to an average of recent polls calculated by The Hill.
Pollster Nate Silver described Harris as a lackluster politician and cast doubt on her ability to defeat Trump during a podcast posted to YouTube on Wednesday.
“I mean, you can think Kamala Harris is a mediocre at best politician, which I do, and she might not be your cup of tea, but it’s just a bizarre argument,” Silver said. “Do you not have the leverage to say, ‘Let’s agree that Kamala Harris is a less bad option?’ She is capable of actually prosecuting the case against Trump. You’re not lying to the American public about her fitness for office. And you know what? She’ll probably lose, but Biden’s probably gonna lose too.”
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