Democrats Prefer Harris as Potential Alternative Candidate

In a survey run by YouGov, respondents who identified as Democrats or as Independents who were Democratic-leaning were divided over whether or not U.S. President Biden should step aside in the presidential elections, with 42 percent saying he should while 43 percent said he should not. At the same time, 64 percent said that the Democratic Party should support Biden rather than try to replace him, if he does choose to keep running.

YouGov then asked which candidates respondents would approve of hypothetically. As the following chart shows, Vice Preident Kamala Harris came out on top with 73 percent support. Harris was also considered by supporters of the party as the person most likely to be able to hold onto the presidency. By contrast, Pete Buttigieg received 57 percent support, while Bernie Sanders received 52 percent, although he also saw the highest level of disapproval of the polled politicians at 34 percent. 

When asked to compare the attributes of Biden and Harris, a varied picture emerges. For example, far more respondents considered Harris to be mentally fit (56 percent to Harris, nine percent to Biden, 25 percent equally matched) and a better communicator (47 percent to Harris, 15 percent to Biden, 25 percent even), while Biden received higher scores on being qualified for the role (34 percent to Biden, 13 percent to Harris, 41 percent equal) and being a strong leader (31 percent to Biden, 16 percent to Harris, 34 percent to both). The most popular answer to this question on several of the character traits however was that they were equally matched.