Kamala Harris steps into the spotlight as calls for her to replace Joe Biden grow

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Kamala Harris is hitting the campaign trail hard this week amid increasing calls for her to replace her boss as the Democratic nominee on the 2024 presidential ballot.

All eyes are on the 59-year-old vice president as she toes the line of backing Joe Biden, 81, amid his very public decline.

She also needs to present herself as a viable alternative should the Democratic Party make the drastic move to oust Joe.

Several Democratic lawmakers, who are concerned about their own races in November after the trainwreck debate, want Biden out and are hoping to put Harris in the running.

The languishing president meanwhile will face his own huge test of mental and physical fitness as he welcomes world leaders to Washington D.C. for the three-day NATO summit. 

'Personally, I think Kamala Harris would be a much better, stronger candidate,' Armed Services Ranking Member Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) insisted to CNN as he issued a statement calling on Biden to exit the race.

Her approval ratings since she entered office have been dire, and sometimes lower than Biden. But a shock poll released on Tuesday morning shows she could narrowly beat Donald Trump in November.

Failed 2016 rival Hillary Clinton, who hasn't even been considered as a candidate, would beat Trump by two percentage points. 

Vice President Kamala Harris is making a three-state campaign swing this week as her name is floated to replace President Joe Biden on the Democratic ticket after his disastrous debate performance 

Democratic pollster Bendixen & Amandi Inc found the VP would edge out Trump 42 percent to 41. 

According to the survey, 12 percent were undecided and three said they would back an alternative third party candidate.  

Harris is holding two campaign events– one open press and one closed – in Las Vegas on Tuesday. On Wednesday she will deliver the keynote address at a sorority event in Dallas, Texas. And she will round out the week with a stop in right-leaning North Carolina.

Nevada and North Carolina are two of the seven battleground states needed for victory this election cycle.

The Biden-Harris campaign claims the VP 'is proud to be [Biden's] running mate and looks forward to serving at his side for four more years.'

Before her failed 2020 presidential primary bid turned into her being selected as the first woman and minority vice president, Harris was a U.S. senator from California for less than one term before stepping down to take residence at One Observatory Circle.

She was also Attorney General of California from January 2011 until stepping down to be sworn in as a senator in 2017.

Her three-and-a-half years in the White House so far have been lackluster and muddied with staff turnover and policy portfolios that were widely seen as a failure.

For example, Biden put Harris in charge of addressing the southern border crisis by looking at root causes of migration from Central America – but the issue has only exploded under this administration.

And now, polls show the southern border and immigration is a top issue to Americans casting their ballots in November, second only to inflation and the general state of the economy. 

Voters still think Harris is awkward and unlikable. Critics often take to social media to make fun of her uncomfortable laugh and berate her for speeches where she doesn't make sense.

During a post-debate campaign reception in Los Angeles, California last month, Harris made a nonsensical statement about the 'promise of America' when she said: 'We know what can happen and what is possible when we collectively have the ability to see what can be unburdened by what has been.'

This is a phrase she has used often that has sparked confusion and criticism from those on the right.

Questions are only increasing about Biden's future in the face after he conducted feeble damage control efforts following his car crash debate with Trump two weeks ago.

Biden stumbled and mumbled his way through the debate with Donald Trump on June 27 and was described as hard-to-hear and appearing weak and 'out of it'

Clean-up included campaign stops in swing states of Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, as well as a series of flubbed interviews where Biden did nothing to better convince voters that he is mentally fit for another term.

Harris and the rest of the campaign team insist they are behind Biden's reelection effort and are in no rush to push him out. And the president insists he's going to lead the party to victory against Trump again this year.

One of Biden's post-debate media appearances led to the firing of a radio host in Philadelphia after it was revealed the president's team sent her prepared questions that she used during their interview.

Despite the scripted nature of the interview, Biden still managed to fumble the ball when he gaffed by calling himself a black woman when he meant to praise his appointment of Harris as his vice president.

His first televised interview after the debate was a 22-minute sit-down with ABC News host George Stephanopoulos that was described as 'sad' and seen as a continuation of his poor debate performance.

Some other names floated to replace Biden should he step aside before the Convention next month are California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a close friend of Harris, and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

But Harris' status as the frontrunner replacement flies in the face of a warning her ex-lover issued after her failed presidential primary run in 2019.

Former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown – now 90 – penned an op/ed in the San Francisco Chronicle warning Harris that the vice presidency would bet the nail-in-the-coffin for any future White House ambitions.

'Historically, the vice presidency has often ended up being a dead end,' he wrote in urging his ex not to take the offer to be second banana.

'The glory would be short-lived, and historically, the vice presidency has often ended up being a dead end,' Brown wrote. 'For every George H.W. Bush, who ascended from the job to the presidency, there's an Al Gore, who never got there.'

But Democrats are now falling back on Harris out of necessity as they scramble to try and replace Biden at the top of the 2024 ticket – and, it appears Brown may have gotten it wrong.