A new poll showed strong favorability ratings for Sen. Kamala Harris, who this week was tapped by Joseph R. Biden to be the first woman of color on a major party’s presidential ticket.
Her favorability score is particularly good news for Mr. Biden, 77, since the same poll found that most voters don’t expect him to last a full four-year term if elected.
A solid majority of 59% of likely voters said they believe there is a good chance Mr. Biden’s vice president will assume the presidency before the end of a first term, according to the Rasmussen Reports survey.
“Even 49% of Democrats think it’s likely Biden’s vice president will become president in the next four years, although that compares to 73% of Republicans and 57% of voters not affiliated with either major party,” said the pollsters.
By comparison, 35% of all likely voters said Mr. Biden could probably make it through four years in the Oval Office.
Mr. Harris, California Democrat, received high marks as Mr. Biden’s heir apparent.
Her party’s voters overwhelmingly admire Ms. Harris, with 76% of likely Democratic voters saying they ave a favorable impressing, including 48% with a “very favorable impression.”
Just 18% of Democrats have a negative view of Ms. Harris, who has been in the Senate for three years after previously serving as California attorney general and San Francisco district attorney.
Among all voters, Ms. Harris scores a respectable 49% favorability rating, with 44% rating her unfavorably.
She got a “very favorable” rating from more Black voters (37%) than White voters (28%) and independent voters (25%).
Black voters also were more likely to back
Roughly 33% of Black voters said they were more likely to vote for Mr. Biden now that he teamed up with Ms. Harris, but just as many, 32%, said it made them less likely to vote for the pair.
Mr. Biden’s choice of Ms. Harris made 24% of all voters say they were more likely to vote for the Democratic ticket in November. But the same share, 24%, said it made them less likely to pull the lever for Mr. Biden.
The other 50% of voters said Ms. Harris’s addition to the ticket had no impact on their decision in November.
The survey of 1,000 likely voters was conducted on July 14 and 17 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points, according to Rasmussen Reports.
