Allies to Vice President Kamala Harris are hoping her new assignment on gun safety legislation will lift her low job approval rating and positively affect her political image as the 2024 race looms.
President Joe Biden established the Office of Gun Violence Prevention on Sept. 22, and named Harris to oversee it.
“Every time I’ve met with families impacted by gun violence as they mourn their loved ones, and I’ve met with so many throughout the country, they all have the same message for their elected officials: ‘Do something,’” Biden said announcing the office in a White House statement. “That’s why I’m announcing additional steps forward, with the first-ever White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, overseen by Vice President Harris, to build upon these measures and keep Americans safe.”
The move comes as most Americans disapprove of the job Harris is doing as vice president, with 53% giving her a thumbs down compared to 39% who approve of her work as vice president, according to the latest polling from the FiveThirtyEight website.
The ratings have many in the Democratic Party questioning whether Harris is a strength or weakness going into the 2024 election.
"It’s not her verbal gaffes or maniacal cackle that are a political liability but rather her job performance as vice president," Cesar Conda, onetime aide to former Republican Vice President Dick Cheney, told the Washington Examiner. "For instance, Biden appointed her 'border czar' to be the administration’s point on the border surge, but she failed to do her job: 304,162 illegal immigrants [were] encountered at the border in August, which is the highest since the Department of Homeland Security started keeping records."
Despite her apparent failures on the border and voting access, allies told the Examiner that they hope her new role will allow her to “connect” with voters in the way she has on the abortion issue after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the decades-old Roe v. Wade decision that made abortion legal nationwide.
Her former chief prosecutor in California told the publication that the gun issue is “an important time” for her to reset.
"Aside from whether or not this is the moment that gun control moves forward, having Kamala at the helm signals to Democrats that a solid priority [for] the party is now being carried to voters by the vice president," the former San Fransisco District Attorney’s Office chief prrosecutor, Paul Henderson, told the Examiner. "It’s a rallying topic with the base of Democrats and likely to serve as a rallying cry to new voters motivated by the topic."