Vice President Harris Visits California Amid Record Low Approval Rating

Vice President Kamala Harris is to make several stops in California this week to help reaffirm Biden Administration policies as well as to try to reverse worsening poll numbers less than two months before the primary election.

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VP Harris is expected to arrive Monday afternoon at Vandenberg Space Force Base outside of Lompoc to discuss space and security concerns, attend a briefing with Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA) and other officials, and possibly discuss Vandenberg SFB becoming the new home of STARCOM, or the Space Force’s training and readiness command headquarters. Currently, four space force bases in Colorado and one in Florida are also in the running to receive it.

“The vice president will be discussing our ongoing work to develop norms in space that advance US and international interests and preserve the security and sustainability of space,” said the White House on Monday morning. “One of her top areas of focus on the Space Council is advancing norms for peaceful and responsible behavior in space.”

The Vice President will then shift gears multiple times this week, including going to a Democratic National Committee Fundraiser in Los Angeles later on Monday, and an event at a health care facility at the University of California San Francisco on Thursday to go over, among other things, maternal health care.

Besides being a work trip to solidify Biden Administration policies, and her first first major political visit to the state since her stumping for Governor Gavin Newsom last year during the recall election, a visit in December, and a short San Bernardino visit in January, Harris is expected to use the trip to improve the image of both President Joe Biden and herself in California. Approval ratings for both the President and Vice President have gone down considerably in recent months, especially in the Golden State.

An April CNN poll currently has Biden with only a 39% approval rating compared to a 55% disapproval rating, with a Fox News poll in February showing a 40% approval, 56% disapproval rating. In California, things have been worse, with an April UC Berkeley poll showing that Harris only has a 35% approval rating in-state, with 45% disapproving.

VP Harris back in CA

“Big issues like crime, inflation, gas prices, and housing costs are rocking the average Californian right now,” said Rita Schubert, a West Coast issues advisor in Washington D.C., to the Globe on Monday. “Of course Biden and Harris’ numbers will be scraping lower there. And they still won’t confront it directly there either. Harris decided on more options with less risk of a firestorm. She’s opting for the safe road in getting her face out there and talking about issues in a more local setting. Like at Vandenberg. Broad national implications about a lot of that sure, but locally they’re hoping that this visit brings STARCOM out there for the jobs and growth. She wants that good news or news that focuses on issues important to her rather than things that warrant more discussion out there right now.”

The Republican National Committee noted on Monday morning that in addition to those concerns, Harris has not yet visited the CA/Mexico border to address issues there, nor has she gone into economic factors. They also counter that her trip isn’t highlighting the most important issues to Californians right now

“Vice President Harris is visiting the Central Coast even though she still hasn’t visited the California/Mexico border and Californians are being crushed under the extreme costs of Bidenflation,” said RNC spokesperson Hallie Balch on Monday. “She can end her vacation with a work meeting, but it doesn’t distract from the fact that Californians are souring on her and President Biden. A little pomp and circumstance won’t address the influx in crime, soaring cost of living or gas price hikes.”

It is currently unknown when President Biden will come out next to California.