She has unsettled Republican donors, but her name recognition is strong and leading Democrats are beginning to join her in support.
Democratic Party leaders say Vice President Kamala Harris would be the natural successor if President Joe Biden bows to growing pressure and steps down as the Democratic nominee in the 2024 election.
Now party donors, activists and insiders are asking: “Is she more likely to beat Donald Trump than Biden?'' Biden has repeatedly said he will continue to run.
Harris, 59, a former senator and California attorney general, will become the first woman president of the United States if she wins the party's nomination in the Nov. 5 election. She will also be the first African-American and Asian to serve as vice president.
Her three-and-a-half-year tenure in the White House was marked by a lackluster start, staff turnover and an early policy portfolio that didn't produce any major accomplishments, including on immigration from Central America.
As recently as last year, many in the White House and on the Biden campaign's side privately worried that Ms Harris would be a drag on the campaign, but Democratic aides say that has changed dramatically since then as she has championed abortion rights and won over young voters.
Some polls show Harris in favor
Recent polls suggest that Harris will face an uphill battle against Republican challenger Trump but could fare better than Biden.
According to a CNN poll released on July 2, voters support Trump 6 percentage points ahead of Biden, 49% to 43%, with Harris trailing Trump within the margin of error, 47% to 45%.
The poll also found that independents favor Harris over Trump by 43% to 40%, while moderate voters from both parties favor her by 51% to 39%.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted after last week's televised debate between Trump and an uninspiring Biden found Harris and Trump roughly equal support, with 42% in favor of Harris and 43% for Biden.
Only former first lady Michelle Obama, who has never declared her interest in the race, received higher approval ratings among Biden's alternatives.
According to an internal survey released by the Biden campaign after the debate, Harris had the same chance of beating Trump as Biden, with 45% of voters saying they would vote for Harris, while 48% said they would vote for Trump.
Prominent Democrats, including Rep. Jim Clyburn, who was key to Biden's 2020 victory, Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York, a ranking member of the Congressional Black Caucus, and Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pennsylvania, have suggested Harris would be the best choice to lead the nomination effort if Biden chooses to step down.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has privately sent a similar signal to lawmakers, congressional aides said.
Ms Harris is being taken so seriously that two Republican donors told Reuters they would rather see Trump take on Mr Biden than Ms Harris.
Pauline Lee, a former Trump fundraiser in Nevada, said after the June 27 debate that she thought Biden had proven “incompetent” and that “it's better for Biden to stay than be replaced by Harris.”
And some on Wall Street, a key Democratic fundraising hub, are beginning to signal their support.
“Biden is already behind Trump and is unlikely to overcome that gap given the current state of the race. Having VP Harris will improve Democrats' chances of taking the White House,” Sonu Varghese, global macro strategist at financial services firm Carson Group, said after the debate. “At this point, VP Harris has a better chance of winning than Biden.”
A majority of Americans view Harris negatively, as do both presidential candidates.
The polling organization FiveThirtyEight found that 37.1% of voters approve of Harris and 49.6% disapprove, compared with 36.9% and 57.1% for Biden and 38.6% and 53.6% for Trump.
Women, Black Voters, Gaza
Harris has been the Biden administration's foremost voice on reproductive rights since the Supreme Court struck down women's constitutional right to abortion in 2022, an issue Democrats are betting on winning the 2024 election.
Some Democrats believe Harris can revitalize segments of the Democratic base that are becoming less enthusiastic about Biden, including black voters, younger voters and those who disapprove of his handling of the Israel-Hamas war.
“She will energize the Black, Brown and Asian Pacific people in our coalition… She will quickly bring our nation's depressed young people back into the fold,” former Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio said in a recent op-ed.
Suburban women, both Democrats and Republicans, may also feel more comfortable with her than with Trump or Biden, he said.
Harris was the first U.S. official to call for a ceasefire in March, and her strategy toward Israel as vice president is identical to Biden's.
“Simply switching candidates doesn't address the movement's core concerns,” said Abbas Alawie, a member of the national “Irresponsible” movement, who refrained from voting for Biden in the primary because of his support for Israel.
If Biden leaves office, there could be a race for the nomination among other Democrats.
Some Democrats say if the party chooses another candidate over Harris, it could lose the support of many Black voters who played a crucial role in Biden's victory in the 2020 election.
“There is no other option than Kamala Harris,” said Adrienne Shropshire, executive director of Black PAC, a black voter advocacy group.
“If Democrats think they have a problem with their base being in disarray, then when you jump ahead to a Black woman and a vice president, I don't think the Democrats can really recover.”
Too left-handed?
But some Democratic donors say Harris may struggle to rally support among moderate Democrats and independents who back Biden's centrist policies, voters whom both parties need to win the presidential election.
“Her biggest weakness is that her public image is associated with the far-left wing of the Democratic Party, which cannot win national elections,” said Dmitri Melhorn, a fundraiser and adviser to LinkedIn co-founder and major Democratic donor Reid Hoffman. “That's a challenge she'll have to overcome if she becomes the nominee.”
Harris will inherit all the fundraising the Biden campaign has done and will also inherit the campaign infrastructure – a crucial advantage with just four months until Election Day on November 5th.
But strategists say the Democratic campaign needs to raise hundreds of millions more dollars before November to succeed — and that's where Ms. Harris could be a hindrance.
“It's really hard to raise money for her,” a Democratic National Committee source said.
As a presidential candidate heading into the 2020 election, Harris lagged behind Biden in fundraising. She dropped out of the race in December 2019, but her campaign reported $39.3 million in total contributions that month. Biden's campaign reported $60.9 million in the same period.
But Biden's campaign raised a record $48 million within 24 hours of selecting Harris as his running mate for the 2020 presidential election.
Some Democrats have said Harris' background as a prosecutor could shine in a direct debate with Trump.
“She's incredibly focused, powerful and smart, and if she were to accuse Donald Trump of criminal conduct, she would be the one to criticize him,” Mellhorn said.
Ms Harris's emergence as a possible successor to Biden has intensified Republican attacks, with conservative commentators revisiting criticisms levelled at her, including by some Democrats, during the 2020 campaign: that she laughs too much, has no track record and is unqualified.
Kelly Dittmar, a political science professor at Rutgers University, said the attack is part of a long history of objectifying and marginalizing women of color in politics.
“Unfortunately, the reliance on racist and sexist attacks and tropes against women running for public office has been historically common and continues to this day,” Dittmer said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
