US Vice President Kamala Harris holds a campaign event that is her seventh visit to North Carolina this year and 15th trip to the state since taking office in Fayetteville NC, United States on July 18, 2024.
Peter Zay | Anadolu | Getty Images
President Joe Biden‘s endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee for president has set the stage for a much tighter and uncertain race in November, according to some experts
Biden stepped down from the race Sunday as top Democrats pressured him to drop out following a disastrous debate performance and as Republican nominee Donald Trump was leading in the polls.
The Democrats had been headed for a “landslide defeat” in November, but now, they stand a chance, said Ian Bremmer, founder and president of Eurasia Group.
“They’ve turned [this race] around, and President Biden has given the Democrats a fighting chance,” he told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” on Monday.
Harris now finds herself on a glide path to the Democratic nomination, though she will still need to win a majority of delegates ahead of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August.
While some other contenders might throw their hat into the race, “it is very clear that Kamala Harris is the prohibitive favorite to become the nominee,” Bremmer said.
If Harris wins the nomination, she would offer the Democrats a “total reset,” Steven Okun, senior advisor at McLarty Associates, said on CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia.”
“If the Democrats can be unified, come out of this convention, speaking with one voice, energized, excited, then they have a good chance to win in November,” he said.
Allan Lichtman, a presidential historian who has correctly predicted the winner of every presidential election since 1984, told CNBC’s “Capital Connection” that Harris would be in a “strong position to win the upcoming election” in a matchup with Trump.
He will wait until the Democratic convention to make his official prediction.
Harris said in a post on social media platform X that she was looking to work to “earn and win” the nomination while uniting Democrats.
How Harris helps Democrats
According to experts who spoke to CNBC, Harris comes with a number of advantages in comparison to her former running mate.
While Republicans have been gaining ground on the economy, inflation and immigration fronts, abortion is a salient issue where she will have an edge, Okun said. Harris has been outspoken on reproductive issues as the first woman vice president.
“The fact is that Biden and Trump are too old to be running and serving for another four years, and this is now the top vulnerability for Trump,” said Eurasia’s Bremmer.
A recent poll showed that some 85% of the population believed Biden was too old to serve another four years. The same poll found that 60% of Americans thought Trump was too old.
“You see a lot of enthusiasm for Harris, a younger, more vibrant, more energetic former prosecutor that could certainly perform extremely well on the debate stage,” Bremmer added.
Bremmer pointed out that Harris also has some weaknesses. She “isn’t super likable as a retail politician. … That’s been a vulnerability for her.” There are also some risks associated with running as a woman — a daughter of an Indian mother and Jamaican father — in today’s America, he added.
On the other hand, she may be better positioned than Biden to drive out certain key demographics, including “women, young people and black voters, Charles Myers, founder and CEO of Signum Global, said on “Squawk Box Asia.”
“It’s a whole new race. There’s a new candidate with an enormous amount of unity and enthusiasm behind her,” he said.
Greater uncertainty for markets
Markets had increasingly been pricing in a Trump victory, with his presidency expected to bring tax cuts and a stronger tariff policy.
However, according to Myers, the race has been thrown into “complete disarray” with Harris set to give Trump a “real run for his money.”
“I’d be very wary and a bit cautious on assuming that Trump is just going to sail to victory,” Myers said, adding that the names and asset classes associated with a Trump win could be perceived as having short-term risk.
Trump has said Harris would be easier to defeat compared with Biden.
By the Democratic convention, Harris would have picked a running mate and likely wrapped up the nomination, at which point the momentum could see her pull ahead in the polls, Myers said.
According to Okun, two likely front-runners for Harris’ running mate are Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, as they come from key swing states and are seen as more moderate.
If the Democrats are unable to unify factions within the party such as moderates and progressives, they will lose to a Republican Party that is completely unified around Trump, he added.
— CNBC’s Sonia Heng contributed to this report.
Correction: Steven Okun, senior advisor at McLarty Associates, appeared on CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia.” An earlier version misstated the name of the program.