What Kamala Harris’ 2020 Run Says About Her 2024 Prospects

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Nearly one week after President Joe Biden’s disastrous debate performance — and amid a torrent of disappointing polls, embarrassing media reportsand new doubtsabout his capacities— serious conversationsabout Biden’s futureon the Democratic ticketare underway.

They are happening in Washington and Delaware and countless places across the country, and increasingly not just in private. A Tuesday MSNBC interview with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), in which she said Biden needs to demonstrate whether the debate performance was indicative of a broader “condition,” felt like a turning point― a signal, intentional or otherwise, that it’s OK for other Democrats to share publicly their anxieties about Biden’s ability to beat former President Donald Trump in November. (My HuffPost colleagues can bring you up to date on the Democratic panic here.)

Reports suggest Biden hopes to prove he’s up to the job, starting with a Friday sit-down interview on ABC Newswith George Stephanopoulos. Maybe he will succeed. Maybe he won’t. Either way, conversation has already started about what happens if Biden steps aside. And that has put the focuson Vice President Kamala Harris.

Harris is the most likely to take Biden’s place in almost any scenario, whether she receives some kind of formal endorsement from Biden and party leaders or simply has to prevail in an open contest for convention delegates. Among the plausible contenders, she has the most name recognition and stature. She, and only she, can say she’s been in the room and on the world stage with Biden, and performed under White House-level scrutiny.

She also has access to