Trump may disapprove of Kamala Harris but 1 in 4 Republicans supports her VP candidature, says poll
Ever since presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden picked California Senator Kamala Harris as his running mate, the GOP camp has been attacking the duo. President Donald Trump has been no exception either after the 55-year-old woman of color emerged as Biden's No. 2. There have even been talks about the birth eligibility of Harris to become the vice president though that speculation was later nullified by Mark Meadows, one of Trump's top aides at the White House.
However, a new poll has suggested that despite the top leadership's attack on Harris, one in every four Republican has approved of her choice. According to a survey conducted by ABC News/Washington Post, while 55 percent of Republicans have disapproved of Harris' nomination, 25 percent are in favor of her nomination. Overall, 54 percent of Americans have backed the decision to choose Harris while only 29 percent are against her nomination, the survey added. Seventeen percent of the 1,001 adults surveyed in the poll said they had no opinion.
Among the Independents who can prove to be politically decisive, 52 percent have approved her choice as against 29 percent who did not. While the reaction to Biden’s pick was positive overall, the margin is narrow among those who have strong opinions on the issue. Thirty percent of those surveyed said they strongly approved of the decision while 22 percent strongly disapproved of it.
Harris has high approval rate among Democrats, Blacks, Hispanics
In the Democratic camp, Harris has got overwhelming support as a vice-presidential pick — 86 percent. Only eight percent disapproved of her candidature. This is significant when seen against the backdrop that Harris failed to find momentum when she was in the race for the presidential nomination and dropped out of the race even before 2020 started.
She was less than effective in snatching Black votes from Biden who she is now set to partner with and expected to clinch the minority vote bank. Biden had told after Harris' pulling out from the presidential race that he would consider making her his running mate if he clinched the presidential nomination himself. The latest poll, conducted by Langer Research Associates between August 12 and 15, also discovered the fact that Harris was more popular wit Black and Hispanic people than the Whites.
While 78 percent of Black people backed Biden's decision to pick Harris, it was 65 percent among the Hispanics and 46 percent among the Whites. In terms of gender, Harris got a higher backing among women. While 52 percent of men approved of her and 30 percent did not, the corresponding figures among women were 56 percent and 29 percent, respectively.
Besides the Democrats and Blacks, Harris has a high approval rate among the liberals, northeasterners and those having postgraduate degrees and are residents of urban areas. White evangelicals, rural residents and non-college-educated Whites are against Harris' nomination, according to Gary Langer, president of Langer Research Associates.
Langer said that views on Sarah Palin were similarly positive ahead of the 2008 presidential election with 60 percent of Americans backing her as the late John McCain’s running mate. Only 34 percent disapproved of her nomination. However, Palin lost her edge as the campaign progressed and the McCain-Palin duo lost to the Barack Obama-Biden duo eventually.