By Alexander H. Jones

I have admired Joe Biden for the entire time I have followed politics. I supported his primary candidacy in 2020, cast an emphatic vote for him that fall, and stood squarely behind much of his agenda as he expanded clean energy, made healthcare more affordable and revitalized manufacturing across the heartland of this country. But Biden’s prior success was not a guarantee that his political career could withstand the costs of his aging body and mind. The CNN debate with Trump did immense damage to Biden’s candidacy. At this point, I do not think that Joe Biden is the proper candidate for Democrats to nominate against Donald Trump.

Many of Biden’s supporters are not being honest with themselves about the president’s weaknesses. Biden was always going to have a difficult time winning reelection with his astonishingly high disapproval ratings. Even before the CNN debate with Donald Trump, 58 percent of Americans expressed disapproval of Joe Biden’s performance as president. In the last few weeks, that number has risen to 61 percent. Combined with widespread outrage at the White House’s apparent willingness to mislead the public on Biden’s health and a wave of disgust toward Biden among young people, the president’s current political standing has made his path to the president, if not entirely foreclosed, then at least extremely limited. The logical way forward is to replace him with another nominee.

Despite some reservations about her among party elites, the most likely replacement for Biden would be Vice President Kamala Harris. It is accurate to say that Harris has suffered a rocky transition into national politics. The promise of her first presidential campaign evaporated within weeks as she failed to handle hard questions from the press, and her early days as vice president were fraught with staff turnover and criticism from inside the Beltway. But she has improved significantly. In the last year, Harris has developed much more effective media skills and shed her propensity for needless political mistakes. She has been Democrats’ most compelling spokesperson on the issue of abortion — far better than Joe Biden, an elderly Catholic grandfather who voted for anti-abortion legislation in the U.S. Senate.

But Harris still has lingering weaknesses. Specifically, many swing voters perceive her as a very liberal California Democrat who is removed from the values of non-coastal America. The greatest risk Democrats would face in nominating her is that Republicans could make her into an alien elitist, like Michal Dukakis in 1988. Fortunately, however, Democrats already know how to combat conservative efforts to “Other” their nominees. In 2008, Barack Obama added 66-year-old blue-collar Scranton native Joseph R. Biden to the ticket, and Biden’s presence as the young Senator’s running mate helped to calm many voters’ misplaced anxieties about the novelty of a Black man in the White House.

Harris would need a vice-presidential nominee with the political skills to convince Middle America that a diverse Democratic ticket can lead the country. A number of Democrats exist who could fill this need, including the young Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear. But no one would be better positioned to balance the ticket than North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper. Cooper is a political powerhouse in a Southern red state who has proven since the 1980s that he can appeal to cultural conservatives.

As governor, Roy Cooper has built a remarkable legacy. His two greatest achievements were expanding Medicaid — after 14 years of neo-Confederate obstructionism by Republicans — and rebuilding the state’s devastated image in the wake of the disastrous McCrory administration. He soundly defeated a Republican challenger in 2020 while Trump carried the state. And his political accomplishments stem from a keen understanding of voters who used to be comfortable voting for Democrats but who are now deeply wary of the party. Cooper could be Harris’s ambassador to working-class voters across the South and Midwest.

Furthermore, Cooper is a team player. I believe Cooper would be a fierce and utterly committed surrogate for the Democratic ticket. He appeared with Biden at the Raleigh rally the day after the president’s failed debate performance, and he could be counted upon to fight for the Democratic cause with the same tenacity he’s shown against our state’s reactionary legislature.

Cooper would also make an excellent president himself. Shortly after Cooper was elected, Jim Hunt, the greatest Governor in North Carolina history, told Politico that he thought Cooper could be a future president. Hunt noted one of Cooper’s most admirable traits: his lack of the shameless ambition that has poisoned politicians’ reputation. “He doesn’t think he wants to be president,” said Hunt. If Democrats nominated Harris and Cooper, her likelihood of attaining that office would rise significantly, and his future would be limitless too.

Alexander H. Jones is a policy analyst with Carolina Forward. He lives in Carrboro. Have feedback? Reach him at alex@carolinaforward.org.