Former CNN analyst pours cold water on Kamala Harris being more viable than Biden

Former CNN political analyst Chris Cillizza said Friday that Vice President Kamala Harris may not be a more viable candidate than President Joe Biden.

Many Americans, including former Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio have suggested Harris should take Biden's place at the top of the Democratic ticket after the president's lackluster debate performance in June against former President Donald Trump. Cillizza said of his YouTube channel Friday that Biden and Harris have different strengths and weaknesses that make them equally suited to compete against Trump.

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'Effectively a wash': Former CNN analyst pours cold water on Kamala Harris being more viable than Biden pic.twitter.com/Ke9NLGDYMe

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“She can win, I think. Where would she help? I think she'd help with African-American voters, I think she'd help with younger voters because the whole age thing goes off the board. If it's an issue, it's more of an issue for to Trump than for the Democratic nominee,” Cillizza said. “Where would it hurt? The unions would potentially be less for Kamala Harris than for Joe Biden. Hispanic voters, at least the polls I've seen, are a little less enthusiastic about Kamala Harris than they are about Joe Biden. She's less proven, right? I mean, she hasn't been the president of the United States, she hasn't beaten Donald Trump, so there's that.”

“But I think it's effectively a wash. She's stronger in some places, she's weaker in some places … and I guess the argument would be if it's a wash, then it's just left with Biden,” he continued . “I just think age is going to be a factor. I could be wrong … I'm going to make the whole conversation a referendum on Biden instead of a referendum on Trump and I think the Democrats lose this race.”

Trump leads Harris 46.1% to 45% in a head-to-head matchup. seconds to an average of recent polls calculated by The Hill.

Interviewer Nate Silver described Harris as a lackluster politician and cast doubt on her ability to defeat Trump during a podcast posted on YouTube on Wednesday.

“I mean, you can think that Kamala Harris is, at best, a mediocre politician, which she is, and maybe she's not your cup of tea, but it's just a weird argument,” Silver said. “You don't have the strength to say, 'Do we agree that Kamala Harris is a less bad choice?' She's capable of prosecuting the case against Trump. You're not lying to the American public about her fitness for office. And you know what? She's probably going to lose, too.”

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