United States Vice-President Kamala Harris may not have won over America in her first two years in office, but she's staying put at President Joe Biden's side.
The first woman vice-president is gearing up for another national campaign despite low poll ratings, a failure to win over the Washington establishment and concern among fellow Democrats about an underwhelming start in the job.
Harris heads into a high-pressure situation as Biden, now 80, moves towards an unprecedented run for a second term as the first octogenarian in the Oval Office. If he wins and becomes ill or cannot fulfil his duties, Harris, 58, would succeed him. That reality will hang over their 2024 re-election bid.
"If he did not think she was capable, he would not have picked her. But it is a question of consistently rising to the occasion," said a former official. "I think his running for re-election is less about her and more about him, but I do think she and the Democratic bench (are) a factor."
Harris leaves on a trip to Africa later this week, a visit that may underscore her foreign policy credentials and generate the kind of positive headlines back home that have often eluded her.
When Biden picked Harris, only the second Black woman ever elected to the US Senate, she was more popular than he was with women, young voters and even some Republicans, an August 2020 Reuters/Ipsos poll showed.
As vice-president, though, she has a 39 per cent favourability rating, according to an average by polling aggregator RealClearPolitics, below Biden's 42.3 per cent.
Some Democrats expressed disappointment that Harris has not stepped up more on critical issues, taking advantage of her platform and inoculating herself — and her running mate — against the criticism that could overshadow their next campaign.
"I think this is one of the fundamental strategic challenges for (Biden) ... how to navigate this," said one Democrat with close ties to the White House.
Biden could lose crucial votes if he were to drop Harris, who is both the first Black and Asian-American US vice-president.
"You cannot replace your first Black woman vice-president and think that Black people and women are going to just vote for you," the former White House official said. "He needs her."
Biden has said he intends to be the Democratic candidate in 2024, but has not made a formal announcement. Both Biden and Harris have said they will run together.
While the vice-president has disappointed some inside her party, Democrats see opportunity in the 2024 race.
Harris is expected to campaign vigorously, including with women and minority groups, constituencies with whom she has connected as vice-president.
"The re-election could be her moment to shine," said Democratic strategist Lis Smith.
"She is at her best when she gets back to her prosecutorial roots and when she can really make a case, and Democrats are going to need to make one hell of a case to win in 2024."
Aides and supporters of Harris, California's former attorney-general, say she has been a big booster of Biden's agenda.
She has highlighted efforts to protect women's reproductive rights, bolster small businesses and fight climate change — all issues that will feature in the 2024 campaign.
"The vice-president's job is to make sure that you carry the mission of the administration forward and she has done that very successfully around the country.
"Unfortunately... I don't think she gets the credit in the public eye she deserves," outgoing Labour secretary Marty Walsh said.
People close to them say Biden and Harris like each other and get along well.
"They have a great relationship. He leans on her a lot," said Cedric Richmond, a former congressman and former senior adviser in Biden's White House. "People consistently underestimate both of them, and they consistently prove people wrong."
Biden lauded Harris's work after Democrats performed better than expected in last year's mid-term elections.
"She knew from the beginning this was an issue that mattered to people," one aide said.
The November election proved she was right: the results from ballot measures and competitive races showed that voters of all political stripes were eager to protect abortion access at the state level, something that overwhelmingly helped Democrats.
The writers are from the Reuters news agency
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times
