WASHINGTON — As President Joe Biden continues to face pressure to step aside as the Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris is balancing being ready to step in for him and defending him to party donors and operatives —including some who have already begun investing in bolstering Harris no matter which position she ultimately ends up in on the ticket.
The effort to dedicate resources to advertising and collecting polling data on public perceptions of Harris comes as many Democrats have begun coalescing around the idea that she could not be passed over if Biden dropped out and as Republicans have stepped up attacks against her since Biden’s dismal debate.
And while Harris has made clear she remains loyal to Biden, her supporters within the party have grown in the last two weeks, especially as research from some Democratic groups finds she could be particularly good at mobilizing young, Black and Latino voters.
“All of her political supporters are buzzing about the possibility that she could be the presidential nominee,” said Jamal Simmons, who worked for a year as Harris’s communications director. “I’m sure it’s awkward to have so many people talking about her replacing the president on the ticket while she is still in the White House, working with the president’s team every day and seeing him every day.”
Simmons, though, added that he is not surprised that Harris has remained so loyal to Biden because when he served in the White House, Harris consistently made clear in her actions and words that she saw her role as being a partner to Biden.
“She’s doing what her job is, which is helping to keep the party together and being a strong partner,” Simmons said. “Over the last couple of weeks, many people who would not have described themselves as fans before have come over to her side because of how strong she has been, and how the process of nominating a new person and getting a campaign up and running leads you to Kamala Harris as the best possible alternative. The more people do the math, the faster they land on Kamala Harris as the answer.”
That math has led groups like Way to Win, a national strategy hub for donors aligned with Democratic causes, to invest money in the last two weeks into studying how voters perceive Harris and how they can best help support her no matter how Biden ultimately decides to move forward.
As part of those efforts, Tory Gavito, president of Way to Win said they funded two polls in the last two weeks surveying how Democratic and independent voters in battleground states were viewing Biden and Harris after the debate and how voters more likely to vote for Republicans saw the candidates in the aftermath of the debate. As part of the push, Gavito said the group was collecting information on which groups saw Harris favorably but also what kind of messaging about her resonated with voters
“It is lost on no one that Biden has been having a very challenging set of days post-debate, and in this time period, Kamala has really forcefully shown she can prosecute the case against Trump and MAGA,” Gavito said. “We can’t afford to stop, which means we have to play full force with the ticket we know we have.”
Way to Win has not taken a stance on whether Biden should drop out of the race. But Jenifer Fernandez Ancona, a co-founder of the group, posted on social media that Democrats could be open to changes to the ticket. “It doesn’t have to be a war. It could be a discussion!,” she wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Being able to have a democratic discussion is part of what makes us different from our opposition.”
Way to Win found that both Biden and Harris polled similarly among Democrats and independents and had more work to do among independent voters. But, the group found that Harris had a “significant boost” from “younger voter segments that Biden has struggled with” and performed well with voters of color and women. They also found Harris’ work as the administration’s most prominent advocate for access to abortion care in the wake of the overturning of Roe v. Wade two years ago resonated powerfully with Democrats and independents.
It’s a shift in the perceptions of Harris, who early in Biden’s presidency was viewed by some in the Democratic party as a drag, not an asset. Some critics within the party have contended that she struggled to gain a political foothold with American voters. And, long before the debate, Republicans have frequently focused attacks on her for years, hoping to drum up opposition to Biden by painting her as a liberal force pulling him away from the center.
Gavito also said groups like hers are keenly aware that Republicans have turned even more attention toward Harris.
On Friday, the Trump campaign sent out an email titled “Crooked Biden Recap: Harris is Biden 2.0” and pointedly attacked her with claims that Harris is a “liar,” and “anti-worker.” Earlier this week, the Trump campaign released an online ad dubbed the “Great Kamala Cover-Up” featuring Harris speaking positively about Biden’s ability to serve as president with the words, “Kamala lied to us for years about Biden” featured in the first few seconds.
The Republican National Committee has also gone after Harris including posting this week on X, formerly known as Twitter, that “Democrat policies have destroyed America. It doesn’t matter which unpopular candidate they choose.”
Gavito said such efforts illustrate why Democrats need to work on crafting messaging aimed at defending Harris. “It’s important that the KHive gets activated and grows,” she said, referring to a term used to describe Harris’ supporters online. “The social media environment thrives on fights, unfortunately, and so, if Kamala doesn’t have an active base that can counter the right’s misogyny, then those stories start to stick.”
Pamela Shifman, president of Democracy Alliance, a network of major liberal donors, echoed that sentiment. “We will always continue lifting up the leadership of our Vice President Kamala Harris,” she said in a statement. “Next week, Republicans’ racist and sexist attacks on our vice president will grow and it’s all of our jobs to help push back.”
Harris has been crisscrossing the country talking to Democratic donors, elected officials, civil rights leaders, party activists, and voters to defend Biden as the party’s nominee.
Since the June debate, her office said she has traveled to six states (including Nevada twice) and has done four national interviews where she urged people to judge Biden on his overall performance as president in the last three years and where she attacked Trump as a threat to democracy.
On Saturday, Harris will travel to her seventh state since the debate when she delivers a keynote speech at the Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote Presidential Town Hall in Philadelphia.
A source familiar with the vice president’s planning said her trips were purposefully designed to have her in front Black, Latino, and Asian and Pacific Islander communities to shore up support among Democrats.
“Over the last week, the Vice President has spoken with elected officials from across the nation to thank them for their support of the President and the ticket and reiterated the need for Democrats to be united in our focus and mission to beat Donald Trump again in November,” an aide to Harris’ office said in a statement.
Her efforts have stood out to longtime Democrats as an example of how the party needs to weather the uncertainty plaguing it as Biden tries to recover from the damage of the debate.
Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., who supports Biden remaining at the top of the ticket, said Harris holding the line for the president shows the strength of her character.
“She is trying to be very cautious because she doesn’t want to give the impression that she is trying to undermine him,” Wilson said of Harris and Biden. “That shows you the character of a Black woman. And that’s what we’re accustomed to doing because we carry the nation on our shoulders. We carry everyone. And that’s what she’s doing. And, that’s what she will continue to do. And, that’s why I love her.”
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
