Pollster and political strategist Frank Luntz has named several Democrats that he says have a viable chance of competing with former President Donald Trump and there was something curious about his list.
The longtime Republican, who has not been a massive fan of the former president, named three Democrats, none of whom were Vice President Kamala Harris.
He appeared on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” program on Friday, where host Andrew Ross Sorkin asked if any Democrat he believed had a chance against the former president.
“I absolutely can identify three people who could do it. Cory Booker, the senator from New Jersey, former mayor of Newark, brought a city that was on its knees back up to its feet, an amazing speaker, brings crowds, gets standing ovations wherever he goes; Wes Moore, the governor of Maryland who has already handled a nationwide crisis, the striking of the bridge, and understands what it is to get things done; and then Mitch Landrieu, the former mayor of New Orleans when the city was going through the hell that it went through, once again a city that was brought to its feet. All three of them would give Trump a tremendous run for [his] money because all three of them are great politicians,” the pollster said.
The host then mentioned Vice President Harris replacing the president on the ticket and the pollster said she puts Democrats in a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” situation because her polling is not much stronger than that of Biden.
“Her numbers are better today than they were six months ago — right now Joe would be yelling at me — so she has improved, but they’re going to ask what has she done as vice president?” the pollster said.
He said that there would be a “war within the Democratic Party” if she is picked as the replacement for the president because so many donors are against her.
“It throws everything up in the air. I don’t like to speculate, all I can say is if you take away the nomination from her and you cause the Democrats to fall into utter chaos,” the pollster said.
The situation regarding President Joe Biden’s campaign appears to be deteriorating even further following a series of bad polls, former President Donald Trump’s assassination attempt, and Democratic donors drying up as members of his party increasingly seek to replace him atop the ticket.
CNN’s Jim Acosta began his broadcast on Thursday claiming that Biden campaign officials are describing the situation as “bleak” following reports that several Democratic leaders, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jefferies (D-N.Y.) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), have called on Biden to end his campaign ahead of the Democratic National Convention next month.
“We begin the hour with Donald Trump‘s seizing the spotlight at the Republican convention while President Biden is grappling with calls to exit the race for the White House,” Acosta said. “Right now, the president is isolating at his house and Delaware after his COVID diagnosis. Pressure is mounting on him this morning to step aside in favor of another democratic candidate to face Trump in November.
“A senior Biden official told me things are looking bleak inside the campaign after reports surfaced that top Democratic lawmakers are leaning on the president to get out of the race. A separate source close to the president told me Biden is, quote, listening, but the source added that the president feels like he is legally the nominee of the party after winning the democratic primary,” Acosta added. “Still, another top DNC official said it seems more and more like a change could happen on the ticket.”
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