Early signs suggest that Kamala Harris has work to do in a massive swing state to keep it from falling into Donald Trump’s hands after Joe Biden dropped out of the race.
Harris has 107 days to build a campaign around herself to beat Trump after Biden endorsed her Sunday, making the ex-California Senator and Attorney General the presumptive nominee.
While she has the backing of Biden and already many of her would-be challengers to the nomination, she also has to find a way to hang on to the several purple states Biden flipped in 2020 to win the race.
One of those states, Georgia, now poses a problem for Harris, as a poll taken just prior to Biden dropping out shows her trailing.
In a poll conducted from July 9-18 surveying 1,000 Georgians, Trump leads Harris by a 51-46 count.
Early signs suggest that Kamala Harris has work to do in a massive swing state to keep it from falling into Donald Trump ‘s hands after Joe Biden dropped out of the race
One percent of those surveyed said they would vote for a third-party candidate, while another two percent are undecided.
While that is a poor result for Harris, one thing to hang her hat on is that she polled better than her boss with the same voters.
In the Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll, Trump is leading Biden by a count of 48 to 45.
While Biden trails Trump by fewer points, Harris starts at a better number and comes out of the poll with a few other positives.
Harris polls higher than Biden among both registered Democrats – 92 percent vs. 86 percent – and black voters – 91 percent to 82 percent – both key demographics for the party.
However, she begins underwater in terms of favorability, with 42 percent of those polled saying they view her positively and 53 percent having an unfavorable view of Harris.
In the same polling, Biden’s favorability was at 41 percent vs. 57 percent who view her unfavorably.
She also has work to do with independents, where she trails Trump by a potentially fatal 11 points.
In a poll conducted from July 9-18 surveying 1,000 Georgians, Trump leads Harris by a 51-46 count
Harris has 107 days to build a campaign around herself to beat Trump after Biden endorsed her Sunday, making the ex-California Senator and Attorney General the presumptive nominee
Biden defeated Trump by just 11,779 votes in 2020 and is the subject of one of the many lawsuits Trump faces over election interference.
Before that, the last Democrat to win the presidential race in the Peach State was Bill Clinton in 1992.
The state remains a toss-up electorally, as the GOP still holds the governor’s mansion while Democrats now own both Senate seats.
Trump has said already that he thinks Harris will be even easier to defeat than Biden.
At his first rally after being shot, Trump already tried out a new nickname for her as he saw the writing on the wall for Harris taking over the Democrats’ campaign.
‘From the moment we take back the White House from crooked Joe Biden and Kamala… I call her laughing Kamala. You ever watch her? She’s crazy,’ Trump said at his rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan on Saturday.
He added: ‘You can tell a lot by laughter she’s crazy. She’s nuts. She’s not as crazy as Nancy [Pelosi].’
The former president also took to his Truth Social account on Sunday afternoon to respond to the news that he will no longer face Biden in November.
The state remains a toss-up electorally, as the GOP still holds the governor’s mansion while Democrats now own both Senate seats courtesy of wins by Jon Ossoff (pictured left) and Raphael Warnock (pictured center)
Trump has said already that he thinks Harris will be even easier to defeat than Biden
‘Crooked Joe Biden was not fit to run for President, and is certainly not fit to serve – And never was! He only attained the position of President by lies, Fake News, and not leaving his Basement,’ he wrote. ‘All those around him, including his Doctor and the Media, knew that he wasn’t capable of being President, and he wasn’t.’
Trump concluded: ‘We will suffer greatly because of his presidency, but we will remedy the damage he has done very quickly.’
Biden was not yet the Democratic Party’s official nominee and there is still a short time to replace him before the Democratic National Convention next month and avoid an open convention.
The party’s nomination event falls August 19-22 in Chicago, Illinois. It now appears that Harris will be at the top of the Democratic ticket by the end of that week after primary voters cast their ballots for Biden to be the nominee.
Harris was initially furious over reports she was not being considered for the spot – but it soon became clear to Democrats she was the best option to replace Biden.
Now kicks off the veepstakes for the current VP to choose her No. 2. Among the short list could be the likes of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, both previously floated as potential replacements for Biden if he would drop out.
A local NBC affiliate in Sacramento, California reported on Sunday that Newsom has abruptly canceled his appearance at the U.S. Ninth Circuit judicial conference scheduled for Monday without any reason given.
Trump was among those that speculated former First Lady Michelle Obama would jump in the race and lead the 2024 Democratic ticket. She so far has polled best out of any other potential Biden replacements.
But Biden made it clear that he is backing his VP for the 2024 race.
‘My very first decision as the party nominee in 2020 was to pick Kamala Harris as my Vice President,’ the President wrote on X. ‘And it’s been the best decision I’ve made.’
He added: ‘Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year. Democrats — it’s time to come together and beat Trump. Let’s do this. ‘
