Kamala Harris has best chance to beat Donald Trump but...: Morning Consult survey

In its first poll after US President Joe Biden quit the presidential race, Morning Consult revealed that Vice President Kamala Harris is performing better than Biden against Republican candidate Donald Trump. The poll showed that 65 percent of Democratic voters support Harris to lead the party’s ticket.

"Our July 21-22 survey found that 65 percent of Democratic voters support Harris to lead the party’s ticket, with none of the other nine names tested breaching 10 percent support," the Morning Consult report said.

Although Harris performed the best among 10 Democrats surveyed against Trump, the Republican Party nominee was still leading by 2 percentage points, the survey showed.

Harris better than Biden?

Former US President Donald Trump leads Harris by 2 percentage points—47 percent to 45 percent—according to the Morning Consult survey, which was conducted after Biden announced his decision to step aside.

The latest poll marks an improvement from the 6-point margin Biden faced in surveys conducted ahead of his exit from the race.

As per the new survey, Harris looks more competitive against Trump than Biden among a number of key groups. She even "appears more capable of harnessing the political power of the anti-Trump coalition that has remained durable through the federal elections of 2018, 2020 and 2022", the report said.

Harris emerged stronger among both women and men. She also polls better among Democrats, who had been a consistent weakness for Biden, and runs ahead of Trump among independents.

Moreover, Harris leads Trump by 54 points among Black voters, compared with a 39-point advantage for Biden. And while the youngest voters favoured Trump by 9 points against Biden over the weekend, Harris leads by 2 points among them.

'Harris has best chance to...'

The new Morning Consult survey also showed that "most Democratic voters think she has the best chance of victory in November and are rallying to her cause". As many as 59 percent of Democratic voters were confident that she has the best chance of beating former President Donald Trump in November.

Besides, majority of the electorate appeared comfortable with Biden completing his term as US president. Most voters (63 percent) said Biden should serve out the remainder of his term, compared with 30 percent who said he should resign now.

When it comes to Trump, 27 percent said the former US President should be replaced as the Republican party (GOP) nominee, up slightly from a week ago, the survey showed.

On July 21, Joe Biden dropped out of the US presidential election and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic Party's new nominee, in a stunning move that upends an already extraordinary 2024 race for the White House.

Biden, 81, said he was acting in the "best interest of my party and the country" by bowing to weeks of pressure after a disastrous June debate against Donald Trump stoked worries about his age and mental fitness.