Former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is near the top of the list Democrat voters think should run if President Joe Biden drops out of the 2024 race.
A recent poll shows that failed 2016 Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is among the Democrats’ top picks for the party’s primary if 81-year-old President Joe Biden decides not to run in 2024 due to age or other factors, such as fitness for office.
Most of the 2,000-plus respondents to the Harvard-Harris poll said that they have doubts about President Biden’s mental fitness to serve as commander-in-chief, while more voters said he is worsening as president rather than improving.
Around three in five of all likely voters said President Biden shouldn’t run for a second term, though there were sharp partisan differences, with 33 percent of Democrats compared to 81 percent of Republicans and 66 percent of Independents expressing that view.
At the same time, strong majorities across the political spectrum agreed that the country needs “another choice” other than a matchup between President Biden and former President Donald Trump.
Clinton Near Top of List
Amid swirling doubts about President Biden’s fitness to continue to occupy the White House, pollsters asked Democrat voters who their pick would be if President Biden decides to opt out of the 2024 race.
The top pick was Vice President Kamala Harris (24 percent), with Ms. Clinton in second spot with 13 percent.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) was third (10 percent), followed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, both with 7 percent each.
While the poll didn’t gauge voter expectations for the results of a matchup between President Trump and Ms. Clinton, the former president was expected to beat Vice President Harris handily in a head-to-head contest (52 percent versus 41 percent).
In terms of net favorability ratings, President Trump trailed only Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (52 percent versus 51 percent), with the former president well ahead of Ms. Clinton (44 percent), who was in 7th place.
By Tom Ozimek
