Harris tries to chip away at her disapproval rating in preparation for November
The criticism directed at Vice President Kamala Harris and her vice-presidency has not deterred her from managing her portfolio, which includes thorny issues ranging from immigration to student debt forgiveness.
Harris, along with President Joe Biden, is not stepping back as they prepare for what will be an expected close general election between former President Donald Trump and the two of them.
Harris, the first woman in the United States to be a vice president and the first person of color to hold that position, has been subjected to intense scrutiny, from her laughter to the substantive policy criticism she received for calling for a ceasefire immediately in the Israel-Hamas conflict before Biden.
Harris’s approval rating has been lower than Biden’s, but that has changed after she began a more active public schedule, and published softer profiles with flattering content. She also posted more social media puff pieces. Harris’s approval rating average is currently net-negative 15 percentage points. This translates to 37% approval-52% of disapproval. Biden, by comparison, has a negative net 16-point rating. 39% approve and 55% disapprove, according to FiveThirtyEight.
Harris’s highest level of disapproval (56%) has decreased since August last year, even though she experienced her lowest approval average of 35.9%.
Harris, however, will have a difficult time making a second impression on some people. This includes Republican strategist John Feehery who has criticized her communication skills despite the promotion of her long-time press secretary Kirsten to communications director, and her hiring Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign spokesman Brian Fallon.
Feehery, a Washington Examiner contributor, said: “I find Kamala Harris to be insincere and irrelevant.” She is not a good communicator no matter how desperately her handlers try to reinvent her image.
Former U.N. candidates are running for the Republican nomination in 2024. Nikki Haley, the former ambassador to the United States and Governor of South Carolina. Anna Kelly, a Republican National Committee spokesperson, emphasized the importance of Harris for the general election, citing the fact that Biden is the oldest president of the United States in history at 81 years old. She also welcomed the prospect of her making more public appearances.
Kelly told Washington Examiner that “Kamala Harris’ radical left California dream is a threat to Joe Biden, who is sleeping through his presidency.” She wants to open the southern border and gut America’s energy independence. She also wants to defund the police. The more Harris talks, the less people are interested in her ideas. We welcome her on the campaign trail, and we look forward to seeing her socialist agenda burn this fall.
Fallon has not responded to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment.
Harris made solo trips to Puerto Rico, Florida and North Carolina in the last week. She also accompanied Biden on White House business as well as political campaign stops.
Washington Examiner reported that Harris had traveled to 16 different states in 25 separate trips since the beginning of the year. This is compared to her 24 state tour she took last year. One-third of those states were for the Fight for Our Freedoms College Tour last fall. She is currently on her Fight for Reproductive Freedoms Tour, which includes six states in this year. Minnesota was one of them, and she became the first Vice President to enter a Planned Parenthood Clinic.
Harris visited Marjory Stoneman Douglas, the Florida high school where 17 people died in the Valentine’s Day 2018 shooting. She announced the opening of the first national extreme risk order resource center that will assist states in implementing red flag laws.
Harris announced last Monday that he would provide an additional $170,000,000 to Guatemala for development, economic assistance, health and security, pending notification by Congress.
She announced the next day a SAVE Day of Action, which was a campaign to promote SAVE Student Loan Plans, a program that allows borrowers earning $16 an hour or less to avoid repayments. Then, on Thursday, she announced that the federal agencies would be required to hire chief artificial-intelligence officers and evaluate their AI usage for safety.
These outings weren’t without incident. Harris’ outings were not without incident. Ryan Petty, who lost his 14-year old daughter Alaina in the Parkland shooting, said that Harris “isn’t there to make school safer; she is visiting to reinforce gun control agenda”. Andrew Pollack, who also lost her 18-year-old child Meadow in the Parkland shooting, called it “repulsive” and “hypocritical” to have Harris show up in Russia-Ukraine or Israel-Hamas Wars, where “many
Democrats remain confident about Harris. Joel Goldstein, vice presidential scholar and professor emeritus at Saint Louis University School of Law, says she is “engaged” and “able”. 2.
Goldstein, a Washington Examiner reporter, said that “she looks different from America’s 46 Presidents and 48 Vice-Presidential Predecessors.” This is one of the barriers that Goldstein has encountered in gaining public acceptance and approval.