Pollster Frank Luntz said Friday there are three possible candidates to lead the Democrat presidential ticket if President Joe Biden withdraws from the race, but none is Vice President Kamala Harris.
Journalist and Newsmax commentator Mark Halperin reported Thursday that multiple sources told him Biden plans to withdraw from the race as early as this weekend, with Sunday most likely.
Luntz was asked on CNBC's "Squawk Box" if he could name any Democrats who could give former President Donald Trump a serious fight if Biden steps aside.
"I absolutely can identify three people who could do it," Luntz said. "Cory Booker, the senator from New Jersey, former mayor Newark, brought a city that was on its knees back up to its feet, an amazing speaker, brings crowds, gets standing ovations wherever he goes; Wes Moore, the governor of Maryland who has already handled a nationwide crisis, the striking of the bridge, and understands what it is to get things done; and then Mitch Landrieu, the former mayor of New Orleans when the city was going through the hell that it went through, once again brought a city to its feet.
"All three of them would give Trump a tremendous run for [his] money because all three of them are great politicians. Have a great retail message."
Luntz said although Harris' poll numbers have improved recently, she could be a liability at the top of the ticket.
"[Republicans are] going to ask, what has she done as vice president?" Luntz said. "In fact, I can see the Trump commercial already. Can you name anything that the vice president has achieved in the four years that she served, and just have a blank ad for the next 60 seconds."
"Squawk Box" co-host Becky Quick noted that Harris was in charge of one thing: the border.
"Exactly, and when we look at immigration, by this time next month, immigration is going to be the No. 1 issue in this country," Luntz said. "It's going to overtake affordability, and on both issues she's very weak. The question is will she debate Trump? Is she prepared? It throws everything up in the air. I don't like to speculate. All I can say is you take away the nomination from her, and you cause the Democrats to fall into utter chaos.
"There will be a war within the Democratic Party. But if you give the nomination to her, there are so many donors who don't want her as the nominee because of the last four years that I would not want to be a Democratic strategist right now, because you're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't."
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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