Joe Biden-Kamala Harris: Senior black Democrats push for 2020 'dream ticket' to beat Trump

Move is response to ex-vice president's soaring in polls

Senior black Democrats are pushing for a “dream ticket” combination of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to take on and defeat Donald Trump.

As the former vice president has soared to the head of polls of 2020 contenders, those in the party are considering how best to balance his candidacy were he to secure the nomination.

Earlier this year, it was reported that Mr Biden, 76, could seek to declare his candidacy, with Stacey Abrams – who narrowly failed to win the governorship of Georgia in 2018 – as his assigned running mate.

Those plans fell through. But reports say senior American African members of the party are pitching a proposal that would instead team the elderly white former vice president, with a different, middle-aged woman of colour – senator Kamala Harris.

“That would be a dream ticket for me, a dream ticket,” Democratic congressman Lacy Clay, a member of the congressional black caucus, told Politico. “If she is not the nominee, that would be a dream ticket for this country.”

Another member of the caucus, Anthony Brown, a Democratic congressman from Maryland, said: “Either combination there, I’d love. I think he’s going to look to balance his ticket so that the ticket itself is more appealing. I think it would make sense and it wouldn’t surprise me if he picked a woman of colour.”

The comments of the congress members do not mean they are necessarily supporters of Mr Biden, who is making his third bid to become president. Many would prefer to see America elect both its first woman president – and first black female president – in the form of Ms Harris, 54, a former prosecutor from California.

Rather, it is a response to the way Mr Biden’s polling has jumped since he formally entered the race. A Morning Consult poll published on 5 May put Mr Biden on 40 points, ahead of Bernie Sanders on 9, Elizabeth Warren on eight and Ms Harris on seven.

A CNN poll published two days earlier suggested Mr Biden would beat Mr Trump 51-45 in a presidential showdown. Meanwhile, a Rasmussen report published last Friday suggested Mr Trump would beat Ms Harris 47-42.

At this stage in the cycle, more than eight months before the Iowa caucuses, polls may not be that insightful. Support for candidates tends to increase with greater awareness, and many of the more than 20 Democratic contenders will be trying to close the gap with Mr Biden in the series of televised priory debates, which start next month.

At the same time, Mr Biden knows he needs to balance his ticket carefully. While he is respected by large number of African Americans because of the way he served as Barack Obama’s deputy, he still faces questions about his support for a 1994 crime bill that discriminated against communities of colour, and his handling of the 1991 questioning of Anita Hill, an African American woman who accused Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment.

Mr Biden also faces questions about his age. Not only would be be the nation’s oldest president were he elected, but he would be in his mid-80s by the time he served two terms. Those with doubts about him, may be persuaded if they saw Ms Harris by his side.