Her elevation to the post of the American vice president after the 2020 presidential election was quite a news but if latest polls are to be believed, a majority of people from California are not enthusiastic about Kamala Harris running for the top post in the 2024 polls despite the fact that she hails from the Golden State.
The 58-year-old Harris, whose mother was an Indian, is being positioned as the heir to president Joe Biden but she has not found enough popularity among Democrats across the US amid approval ratings from the public, The Telegraph reported.
Even in California, Harris’s home state and a Democratic bastion, the prospect of her stepping into Biden’s shoes to become the first woman president of the country looks bleak.
Between February 14 and 20, a poll conducted by the Berkeley Institute of Government Studies and The Los Angeles Times asked 7,512 registered voters about how they would feel about Harris running for president if Biden, who turned 80 last November, decided against running for a second term.
It was found that 59 per cent of the respondents were hesitant about Harris seeking the presidential office. While 18 per cent said they were “not too enthusiastic” about the idea, 41 per cent were “not enthusiastic at all”.
As against that, only 16 per cent were “very enthusiastic” about Harris, a former attorney general and senator from California, getting the ticket for the top post. Twenty-one per cent said they would be “somewhat enthusiastic” while four per cent gave no opinion.
When broken down party-wise, however, Harris had a reason to smile. Among Democratic voters, 56 per cent said they would be enthusiastic about her candidature. But when narrowed down to California, 40 per cent of Democrats in the state did not want to see her run for the president’s post.
According to The Telegraph report, Democratic officials have privately expressed their worry that Harris could prove to be a liability for the Democratic party, citing her limitations as a communicator.
Harris will be an integral part of the campaign as the running mate for Biden if the ageing leader runs for a second term.
When asked about the concerns in the Democratic party, she told NBC News recently that she intends to run as the vice president just as Biden eyes a second term.
Biden’s own approval rating in California improved as he holds 57 per cent approval and 39 per cent disapproval. However, 57 per cent of the voters of the state still want him to step aside in 2024.
