By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-11-26 16:00:42 | Updated at 2024-11-28 05:50:02
1 day ago
After Vice President Kamala Harris' sweeping defeat in the 2024 presidential election, politicos suggested the Democrats should have put up another candidate against President-elect Donald Trump.
Now, however, stunning new polling reveals that the any Democrat was likely doomed to defeat - and that Americans think Harris, despite her resounding defeat, might be the best the party has got.
YouGov conducted a post-election poll to see how voters were feeling. It found 46 percent voted for Harris while 48 percent voted for Trump - in line with the results.
But the polling also asked Harris voters whether there was another candidate who they would have rather voted for in a race against the Republican nominee and that's where other potential candidates came up short.
President Biden - who originally was the nominee but was forced to drop out of the race in July amid fallout over concerns about his ability to run, let alone lead, after his disastrous debate against Trump in late June - polled at 41 percent against the president-elect.
Other potential candidates including Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro also trailed Trump in the end.
Whitmer polled at 38 percent and Shapiro at 37 percent, though both are lesser known currently among voters.
Post-election polling showed Vice President Harris had the best shot against President-elect Donald Trump
And while a lot will happen over the next four years, another new poll, from Emerson College, found Harris, despite a resounding loss, is still the early favorite when it comes to potential Democratic presidential candidates in 2028 at 37 percent among Democratic primary voters.
Other big Democrat names trail well behind her - failing to even break the single digits.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom came in at just 7 percent, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg at 4 percent, and supposed party stars Whitmer and Shapiro garnered just 3 percent each in the Emerson survey.
Trump was able to lock in not just the Electoral College votes with his victory but swept all seven battleground states.
He also clinched the popular vote by a slim majority for the first time as even blue strongholds saw shifts further red across the country.
Democrats' post-election autopsy will need to include not only who their candidate was but also their policy platform and how messaging was delivered to the American people.
Some state Democratic leaders are already gearing up to fight back against Trump and congressional Republicans' conservative policy agenda as the president-elect prepares to retake office in January.
The party will take formal steps to elect new party leadership to head the Democratic National Committee on February 1.
But when it came to the November election, there was little Democrats did right, the surveys suggest.
The YouGov poll found Harris did better against Trump than any of the other hypothetical Democrats as the nominee across race, gender and age groups.
A post-election poll of registered voters conducted Nov. 6-12
And the Emerson survey found that since the election, Trump's favorability rating has increased.
He saw a six-point increase to 54 percent - up from 48 percent. But his favorability varies with gender, race and age.
Men favor him 61 percent while his favorability among women is just 48 percent.
But Trump is term-limited, meaning speculation has already begun over 2028 for both major political parties.
A clear indicator that it will be open season heading into the next presidential election is just how many Democratic voters are undecided at this stage about 2028 - 35 percent.
A poll by Emerson College shows Harris and Vance are the early favorites to run for president in 2028. Harris led at 37 percent among Democratic primary voters while Vance led among 30 percent of Republican primary voters. But a significant number of voter including 35 percent of Democrats and 51 percent of Republicans are undecided about 2028 at this early stage
When it comes to Republican primary, even more GOP voters are undecided about 2028 without Trump in the picture with 51 percent.
Vice President-elect J.D. Vance comes in second with 30 percent and is by far in the lead among potential candidates at this early stage.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis who ran in the 2024 GOP primary against Trump has just 5 percent while fellow 2024 candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has 3 percent.
Nikki Haley polls at just 2 percent, the same number as Robert Kennedy Jr., who up until recently was a Democrat.
