The most recent Ipsos-ABC poll reveals an important fact about the upcoming election —the selection of Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., as Biden’s vice presidential candidate is a big mistake that could cost him the election.
The poll probed deeply into Harris’ image with American voters and found her image with those voters is underwhelming.
When pollsters detailed a series of positive phrases about Harris and then asked how well they fit her, only about 40% agreed that they did, well under the 50% plus vote share Biden got in the same poll.
A lot of Biden voters are not so sure about Harris.
In the ABC-Ipsos Poll, asked, "Does Harris share your values?"
Only 38% said she did while 36% said she did not.
Even on such a mild compliment, "She cares about people like me" only 40% agreed while 34% disagreed.
And 40% said that Kamala Harris was "too liberal" while 29% disagreed.
Is she "honest and trustworthy?" Only 40% said yes while 36% said not really.
Even the easiest of compliments to bestow: “She is inspiring” met with only 43-31 agreement.
And finally, on this key question, "Is she qualified to serve as president should it become necessary?"
The essence of the job of vice-president, only 40% agreed while 32% demurred.
Her drag on the Biden-Harris ticket was made most evident in the latest CNN poll, the only one so far to pit the two tickets against each other. It should that the Biden-Harris ticket drew 50% support while Trump-Pence ran close with 46%.
In the battleground states, the poll showed Biden-Harris with only a one point lead, far less than any previous published poll.
So why is Harris such a drag?
Unlike a lot of vice presidential candidates before her, Harris just recently lost a race for the nomination for president.
And she lost badly.
Harris had to drop out before Iowa and New Hampshire.
Voters have seen a lot of her in the Democratic debates and found her wanting.
But Joe Biden’s purported deteriorated mental and physical condition — and his age — make the question of a possible Harris presidency rather immediate and almost imminent.
While voters may have a lesser standard for vice-president figuring that she could grow into the job and be prepared when the distant day comes that she might have to become president, Biden’s frailty and possible encroaching dementia makes us measure Harris as a president right now.
And we find her not qualified.
Was she selected because she was the best qualified candidate or rather that she was the best Black woman for the job?
The very nature of her selection makes her a kind of affirmative action vice president, whose credentials are suspect. All the more so because her career was launched and nurtured by California House Speaker and Democratic boss of San Francisco Willie Brown. He says the two dated years ago.
The fact that her selection was so determined by her race and gender leaves many to wonder how she feels about them. So it is no surprise that they doubt whether she shares their values or cares about people like them.
These hurdles might be overcome, but they are daunting and show what a risky pick Harris really is.
Notes on Night One of the Democratic Convention
More than anything else, it was clear that Biden is a one-issue candidate: The coronavirus.
If it were to go away tomorrow — and we could have a widely used vaccine by election day — they would have no real issue.
Plenty of candidates run for president on only one issue: Bush-43 on terrorism in 2004 and Bill Clinton on the economy in 1992 come to mind. But those issues had traction and would dominate the landscape for years.
The virus could go away quickly. Nobody know
Gov. Andrew Cuomo, D-N.Y., deserves the hypocrite-of-the-night award for complaining that Trump let the virus come in through travelers from Europe and failed to contain it once it arrived at our airports.
Has he forgotten where those airports are located?
And who is the governor of that particular state.
Sharing in the hypocrite award is former Ohio governor John Kasich who lamented the fact that Donald Trump was nominated and elected.
But he — more than anyone else — was responsible for Trump’s nomination.
Right after Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, upended Trump in a surprise victory in Wisconsin’s primary, it became evident that only Cruz could overtake Trump. Yet Kasich doggedly held on to his candidacy, splitting the anti-Trump vote and effectively delivering to Donald the GOP nomination.
Cruz begged and pleaded with Kasich to pull out but he refused and split the vote right up to the convention forcing Cruz to withdraw.
And now he complains!
Welcome to politics.
Dick Morris is former presidential advisor and political strategist. He is a regular contributor to Newsmax TV. Read Dick Morris's Reports — More Here.
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