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Kamala Harris reboot attempts fizzle out as approval ratings remain 'low as ever' with 2024 just one year away

Vice President Harris, despite being the beneficiary of a positive “media blitz" and friendly interviews with major news outlets, is still unpopular with voters.

Vice President Kamala Harris, despite being the beneficiary of a "media blitz" ranging from interviews on "60 Minutes" to longform profiles in outlets like The New York Times and The Atlantic, is still unpopular with voters. 

"Harris has been at the center of a media blitz this fall and taken on new policy leadership responsibilities, while working to overcome lingering issues, including her sagging poll numbers, negative news stories and a rash of staff departures," The Messenger wrote

"Ease and confidence have not been the prevailing themes of Harris’s vice presidency," The Atlantic wrote in a profile from early October. "Her first year on the job was defined by rhetorical blunders, staff turnover, political missteps, and a poor sense among even her allies of what, exactly, constituted her portfolio."

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Despite President Biden's statements that he believed in Harris's ability to govern, her "reputation has never quite recovered," The Atlantic continued. 

Harris herself has directly confronted her general unpopularity with the American public in multiple interviews with friendly media. In August, Harris claimed that she was the victim of intensive media scrutiny during an interview with Politico.

"I think that that is the case. … It’s what it is," Harris said in response to a question about "whether she faces more media scrutiny than her predecessors as VP." 

"I’m not going to sit here and say, ‘Oh, you know, it’s not fair,’ because, you know, I am not new to these things," she added. 

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It is an argument that some conservatives have routinely dismissed as ahistorical, noting past criticism of Mike Pence, Dick Cheney, Dan Quayle and others. Joe Biden and Al Gore have also routinely come under criticism and ridicule from the right as the two most recent Democratic vice presidents before Harris. 

That is not to say that Harris is the most popular choice for Biden's running mate in 2024, even among Democrats. 

New York Times Magazine relayed that in "interviews with more than 75 people in the vice president’s orbit, there is little agreement about Harris at all, except an acknowledgment that she has a public perception problem, a self-fulfilling spiral of bad press and bad polls, compounded by the realities of racism and sexism."

"This year, an NBC News poll found that 49 percent of voters have an unfavorable view of Harris, with the lowest net-negative rating for a vice president since the poll began in 1989," the magazine wrote. 

Multiple liberal columnists have urged Biden to ditch Harris as his running mate for the 2024 presidential election.

Columnists at The Washington Post, New York Magazine’s The Intelligencer and a prominent independent writer said there are "better options available" for Biden’s running mate and that he should choose one of them if he wants a shot at winning re-election.

Among the Democrats mentioned to replace Harris were Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock, and Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth.

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Washington Post columnist David Ignatius recently argued that Biden was "too old" to run for re-election and pointed to Harris as one of the president's "liabilities." He said, "Biden could encourage a more open vice-presidential selection process that could produce a stronger running mate. There are many good alternatives, starting with now-Mayor of Los Angeles Karen Bass, whom I wish Biden had chosen in the first place, or Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo."

The author pointed out the vice president’s shortcomings, writing, "She is less popular than Biden, with a 39.5 percent approval rating, according to polling website FiveThirtyEight." 

Ignatius continued: "Harris has many laudable qualities, but the simple fact is that she has failed to gain traction in the country or even within her own party."

The Harris campaign did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. 

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Fox News' Hanna Panreck and Gabriel Hays contributed to this report.

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