Biden to Harris Transition Resets Presidential Race
By Nathan L. Gonzales & Jacob Rubashkin
While the dust is still settling on President Joe Biden’s decision to bow out of the race, his party’s switch to Vice President Kamala Harris at the top of the ticket looks like the great reset Democrats needed in the presidential race with just more than three months before Election Day.
Biden’s exit comes after an agonizing three weeks for Democrats following his dismal debate performance against former President Donald Trump. Not only did Biden trail Trump in general election polling in nearly all key swing states, but his poor standing was making life more difficult for House and Senate Democratic candidates, who were relying on historic levels of ticket-splitting to outpace their GOP opponents.
While the path to a majority in the House was still clear for Democrats, it had become more difficult. And the path to maintaining a majority in the Senate had become exceedingly narrow with the prospect of Vice President J.D. Vance being able to break tie votes..
Voters need time to digest the major events of the past two weeks: the assassination attempt on Trump, the GOP convention, Biden’s exit. It’s healthy to wait another week or so for more polling data before making firm proclamations about a new state of the race. But the initial evidence points to a boost for Democrats that helps the race land back to a normal, close race with independent voters and a half-dozen or so states hanging in the balance.
Presidential Race…
