Early signs indicate that Kamala Harris still has work to do in a major swing state to prevent the state from falling to Donald Trump after Joe Biden withdrew from the race.
Harris has 107 days to mount a campaign to defeat Trump after Biden endorsed her on Sunday, making the former California senator and attorney general the presumptive nominee.
While Biden and many of her potential challengers are backing her, she must also find a way to hold on to several states Biden captured in 2020 to win the race.
One of those states, Georgia, now poses a problem for Harris, as a poll taken just before Biden left office showed her trailing.
In a poll of 1,000 Georgia residents conducted July 9-18, Trump led Harris 51-46.
Early signs suggest Kamala Harris has work to do in a huge swing state to prevent it from falling to Donald Trump after Joe Biden dropped out of the race
One percent of respondents said they would vote for a third-party candidate, while another two percent have not yet decided.
While that’s a bad result for Harris, she can be proud that she outperformed her boss among the same voters.
In the Atlanta Journal-Constitution According to a poll, Trump has a 48-45 lead over Biden.
While Biden is down by fewer points behind Trump, Harris has a better starting point and comes out of the poll with a few other positives.
Harris is polling higher than Biden among both registered Democrats (92 percent to 86 percent) and black voters (91 percent to 82 percent), two key demographics for the party.
However, she starts underwater when it comes to positive reactions: 42 percent of respondents say they have a positive opinion of her and 53 percent have a negative opinion of Harris.
In the same poll, Biden’s popularity was 41 percent, while 57 percent viewed her negatively.
She is also running with independents, where she trails Trump by a potentially fatal 11 points.
In a poll of 1,000 Georgia residents conducted July 9-18, Trump led Harris 51-46
Harris has 107 days to build a campaign around herself to defeat Trump after Biden endorsed her on Sunday, making the former California senator and attorney general the presumptive nominee
Biden defeated Trump in 2020 by just 11,779 votes and is the subject of one of several lawsuits against Trump alleging election interference.
The last Democrat to win the presidential election in the Peach State was Bill Clinton in 1992.
Voting-wise, the state is still an uncertain factor: the Republican Party still has the governorship, while the Democrats now hold both seats in the Senate.
Trump has already said he thinks Harris will be even easier to beat than Biden.
At his first rally after he was shot, Trump tried out a new nickname for her, as he saw Harris taking over the Democratic campaign.
“The moment we take back the White House from the corrupt Joe Biden and Kamala … I’m going to call her Laughing Kamala. Have you ever seen her? She’s crazy,” Trump said Saturday at his rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
He added: ‘You can tell a lot of the laughs that she’s crazy. She’s crazy. She’s not as crazy as Nancy [Pelosi].
The former president responded to the news that he will not run against Biden in November via his Truth Social account on Sunday afternoon.
The state remains an electoral toss-up, as the GOP still holds the governor’s seat, while Democrats now hold both Senate seats thanks to victories by Jon Ossoff (pictured left) and Raphael Warnock (pictured center).
Trump has already said he thinks Harris will be even easier to beat than Biden
‘Crooked Joe Biden was not fit to be President, and is certainly not fit to serve – and never was! He only got to the position of President through lies, fake news, and by never leaving his basement,’ he wrote. ‘Everyone around him, including his doctor and the media, knew he was unfit to be President, and he was not.’
Trump concluded: “We will suffer greatly under his presidency, but we will repair the damage he has caused very quickly.”
Biden was not yet the official Democratic Party nominee, and there is little time to replace him before the Democratic National Convention next month. Here’s how to avoid a public convention.
The party’s nominating event will take place in Chicago, Illinois, from August 19 to 22. It now appears that Harris will top the Democratic ticket by the end of that week, after primary voters cast their votes for Biden as the nominee.
Harris was initially outraged by reports that she was not being considered for the position, but it soon became clear to Democrats that she was the best option to replace Biden.
Now begins the race for the current vice president to choose her No. 2. The shortlist could include California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, both previously mentioned as possible replacements for Biden if he were to withdraw.
A local NBC station in Sacramento, California, reported Sunday that Newsom suddenly canceled his appearance at the U.S. Ninth Circuit hearing scheduled for Monday, without giving a reason.
Trump was among those who speculated that former First Lady Michelle Obama would enter the race and lead the 2024 Democratic ticket. She has so far had the best showing of any of Biden’s other potential replacements.
But Biden made it clear he is supporting his vice president for the 2024 race.
“My very first decision as a party candidate in 2020 was to choose Kamala Harris as my Vice President,” the president wrote on X. “And it is the best decision I have ever made.”
He added: “Today I want to give my full support and endorsement to Kamala to be our party’s nominee this year. Democrats — it’s time to come together and defeat Trump. Let’s do this.”