Is Kamala Harris ready to take the reins as president? | On Balance

from Washington, President Kamala Harris. No, seriously, that is the question of this year's election. New polling from JL Partners explains why. Just 38 percent of voters believe Joe Biden will survive another four-year term if elected. That means well over 50 percent do not believe he will make it all four years. Thus, as Harris hits the campaign trail in North Carolina this Thursday, there is a lot more things to think about than just her as vice president. And the more Harris hits the campaign trail, the more regular voters, not just political junkies, begin to think about that hard question of whether they want or can even see her as president. That's not necessarily a question Democrats want swing voters asking. Enter the glowing pieces about Harris like this one from Reuters. Kamala Harris pushes the envelope as Biden struggles with some Democrats. Fifty-nine-year-old Harris is taking on more heated topics more often and more directly than Biden, while some have knocked Harris's performance. As vice president and value to the reelection campaign in the past, she's moving, according to Reuters, into a starring role. We'll see how she does. The article cites some of her recent events, safe events, and all focus on securing the left wing of the Democratic Party that is angry. They're angry over Gaza. They are disenchanted with the Biden administration's lack of success on promised issues for the black community. They are, fair to say, obsessed with, in their words, reproductive health care. Here she is during some of those appearances. Given the immense scale of suffering in Gaza, there must be an immediate ceasefire. I'm here at this health care clinic to uplift the work that is happening in Minnesota as an example of what true leadership looks like. Nobody should have to go to jail for smoking weed. All right. Polling suggests none of those speeches have helped move the needle with her approval rating, which sits at just 37 percent, a historic low. In fact, voters view President Biden more favorably than they do his vice president. Harris, you'll remember, failed as a candidate herself in 2020. Now Democrats have six months to rebrand her. We begin tonight with George Will, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for The Washington Post, NewsNation's senior political contributor. Good to see you, as always, George. Are Democrats putting her out by choice or necessity? Both. It seems to me they have no choice but to put her out there. Her political skills, Leland, were demonstrated in 2019 and 20. She entered the campaign with lots of money and lots of support and lots of favorable media and dropped out before the first votes were cast. Since then, she has become a kind of punchline because of the word salad she has offered as some of her rhetoric. The president did her no favor when he made her the point person on the border, and she did herself no favor when she declared the border secure. All right. Of her many hats, borders are, expanded voting rights, COVID-19 vaccinations, workers' rights, closing the digital divide. My father would like to say that, you know, nothing helps a good product more than good advertising because it exposes people to it. Nothing kills a bad product faster than good advertising. What is the danger of good advertising here? The danger is that the more people look at her, the more they have questions. Not just as vice president? Not just as vice president, but certainly the voters are not wrong to say that actuarially Mr. Biden is ominous, and therefore actuarially she is to be looked upon as a president-in-waiting. Remember, she was chosen as vice president because Joe Biden finished fifth in the New Hampshire primary, went down to South Carolina. Having said he would like a female running mate, James Clyburn, African-American, very talented politician down there said, no, actually what you want is an African-American female. The selection was narrow, the alternatives few, and this is what he got. That said, they did beat Harris and Biden. Biden and Harris did beat Donald Trump the last time around. Live pictures right now, he's shaking hands in Wisconsin. The power of the incumbency, and I don't need to tell you this, is enormous here. Is Donald Trump in a position, especially considering what his court schedule looks like over the next few days and next few months, in a position, six months of the longest presidential election we're going to ever have, to take on the power of Air Force One and Air Force Two crisscrossing America? In a sense, Leland, we have two incumbents running, a president and a former president. Doesn't happen very often in American history. Remember, he's going to spend a lot of time in the courtrooms, but basically this longest, most repulsive campaign in American history is about seven states. Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona, Nevada. That's it.