Kamala Harris or Donald Trump? Who has the best chance if Joe Biden’s candidacy is downgraded?

The first 2024 presidential debate between Joe Biden (81) and Donald Trump (78) triggered a series of doubts on the current president’s chances of defeating his opponent in the November elections.

Even though the former president repeated a series of fake news, The Democratic Party’s standard-bearer has shown shortcomings that have been noted .

At times it seemed as if he was beginning to lose his train of thought, while He had difficulty questioning the Republican when he made statements that turned out to be false. .

This situation has generated skepticism about whether Biden is really the best candidate to face Trump in the elections.

Added to this is that His age has also been positioned as a point of concern. .

If Biden won the vote, He would complete his second term at age 86. .

The situation has led to In the offices of the Democratic Party, the idea of ​​presenting a new presidential candidate is being discussed if Joe Biden gets through this.

This, despite the fact that He insisted he would continue the race for a second term in the White House.

However, one of the names that resonates the most is that of Kamala Harris (59) the current vice-president of UNITED STATES .

And while she has insisted on her support for Biden and has not publicly questioned whether she should run, Some Democrats see her as an option to replace him .

One of them is California Rep. Adam Schiff, who recently said that If Biden can’t win, ‘he clearly needs to pass the torch to someone who can’ .

He and South Carolina Legislator Jim Clyburn suggested Harris should be the successor if the president drops out a scenario for which there is pressure within the party.

Among the possible replacement options, other names are also under consideration like Gretchen Whitmer, Gavin Newson, Josh Saphiro, JB Pritzker, Pete Buttigieg and Ro Khanna.

However, for Clyburn, “The party should not do anything to avoid Ms Harris.” because this could lead to internal conflicts that would affect political strategy.

Opponents of the idea that she should be the standard-bearer of her sector They remember that she failed to be the party’s candidate in 2020 and had low approval ratings. among other points.

However, Republican Party representatives acknowledged that could be a serious opponent against Trump .

For example, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham He called Harris a “vigorous” candidate and stressed that they must prepare for a “completely different race” if she replaces Biden. .

In the days following the debate, Trump disqualified her as “pathetic” .

A survey conducted by cnn The network, which hosted the debate in its Atlanta studio, concluded that She has a better chance of winning the election than Joe Biden. .

According to this survey, Harris is two points lower than Trump, while Biden is six points lower than the latter. .

Even like this, Many analysts doubt these investigations. .

In this sense, the specialists consulted by the BBC they said that The scenario could change if Biden actually abandons his candidacy .

A Democratic pollster close to the current president’s campaign said, speaking on condition of anonymity, that Even if Harris could broaden the voter base, they are not sure how big the difference would be. it would mark.

He said that the vice-president performed better among black, Latino and young voters, but showed doubts about whether those sectors would vote in case Biden does indeed withdraw from the election.

“It’s time to wait and see what happens” he told the aforementioned media.

Regarding the vice-presidency for the next term, It is suggested that if Harris runs for re-election, she could be joined by either Josh Shapiro (Governor of Pennsylvania) or Roy Copper. (Governor of North Carolina) .

On the other hand, it is assumed that Trump would be accompanied by Doug Burgum (Governor of North Dakota) or JD Vance (Senator of Ohio) .

Although, of course, These forecasts could change depending on what happens in the election.

Currently, survey data compiled by FiveThirtyEight They rank Harris with an average approval rating of 37 percent, similar to current candidates. .