Vice President Kamala Harris visited Dallas on Wednesday, praising the achievements of the Biden administration as national Democrats’ anxiety over their collapsing presidential ticket persisted. The vice president seemed to suggest that President Joe Biden is remaining on the ticket. She spoke to over 20,000 members of Alpha Kappa Alpha, a historically black sorority, during their yearly convention held at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center. She is an alumnus of the organization. Wearing the signature pink sorority shirt, Harris aimed to strengthen the president’s support among African Americans, a crucial voting bloc in the next elections.
The vice president chose not to address the most important topic of the day, which is the heated national discussion regarding whether or not President Joe Biden should withdraw as the party’s nominee to allow her to run in his stead. Harris declined to respond to inquiries from the media about Biden’s resignation following the event.
Numerous Democrats, including U.S. Representative Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, are publicly announcing that they believe Biden will lose and harm Democrats in important elections farther down the ballot, such as the Texas Senate race. In addition, Biden will be visiting Texas soon. On Monday, he will give a speech to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library in Austin.
As she began her keynote address in Dallas on Tuesday, Harris—who was an AKA member while attending Howard University—acknowledged Hurricane Beryl, which devastated Southeast Texas and left millions without electricity during the sweltering summer heat. President Biden has approved a major disaster declaration, and we will continue to stand with the people of Texas as we rebuild and recover,” Harris said.
Harris also spoke about Democrats’ favorite topic lately: abortion. In the South, where a majority of Black women call home, every state except for Virginia has a ban, many with no exception even for rape or incest,” Harris said. One does not have to abandon their faith to agree, the government should not be telling her what to do with her body.
Harris hitting the campaign trail comes as the Cook Political Report shifted five significant swing states and Nebraska’s swing district in favor of former President Donald Trump in its most recent prediction for the 2024 presidential election. According to its most recent Electoral Map prediction, Arizona, Georgia, and Nevada have all moved from being classified as “toss-up” to “lean Republican,” giving Trump 268 electoral votes in his column.
Additionally, Cook Political changed the status of Minnesota, New Hampshire, and Nebraska’s 2nd District from “likely Democrat” to “lean Democrat,” suggesting that Trump may now be able to win these blue states. Only 226 of the 270 electoral votes that are required are in Biden’s column; the other 44 are must-win contests for Biden, including Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
Cook Senior Editor Dave Wasserman commented on the shift, stating, “The notion that the presidential is a Toss Up was a stretch even before the debate. Today, Trump has a clear advantage over Biden and a much more plausible path to 270 Electoral votes.” In the Cook forecast, Trump only needs to win of the three toss-up states to win the election.
A whopping 72 percent of voters believe Biden should not run for a second term, up nine points from February. A recent CBS News/YouGov poll highlights potential concerns among voters about Biden’s ability to complete his term. This survey will be one of the first post-debate polls that Democratic strategists and donors will examine to assess the impact of Biden’s debate performance on his candidacy.
Among Democrats, 46 percent said Biden should not be running for a second term, up 10 points since June 9. After the debate, some Democratic officials reportedly said Joe Biden should step aside as the nominee and give another Democrat a chance to run for president in 2024. That idea finds resonance with nearly half the nation’s rank-and-file Democrats,” CBS reported.
That’s related to perceptions of Mr. Biden’s health: Democrats who don’t think Mr. Biden has the mental and cognitive health to serve are more likely to say he shouldn’t be the nominee. And that former number has increased among Democrats. It’s also gone up among independents,” the outlet added.
