Punters Already Betting on Kamala Harris Becoming US President
Kamala Harris is expected to one-day be president of the United States and is in line to serve two full terms, according to political betting data.
Ms Harris is president Joe Biden’s VP for the next four years after the pair joined forces to beat Donald Trump and Mike Pence in the 2020 US election.
Harris is the first female, black and Asian American vice-president in the country’s history. At 56-years-old, the former senator is expected to be at the forefront of Democrat politics for a generation.
And it looks a near-certainty that Ms Harris will eventually get the top job in the White House.
That is according to the latest US politics betting analysis, which reveals punters are backing Harris to win the presidency herself within the next two decades.
Harris For President Before 2040
In a market recently opened by William Hill, the odds of Harris being US president before 2040 were set at 7/4. That offers an implied probability of 36.4 per cent – a strong backing considering there has never been a female president.
Meanwhile, the chances of Harris serving two terms in the White House have also been set at a reasonably high rate. William Hill’s odds of 5/2 reflect a 28.6 per cent probability of Harris being a two-term president, something Trump failed to achieve.
With optimism high amongst Democrats right now it’s no wonder the odds are backing Harris to succeed. What’s more, Biden’s age – he will be almost 82 when the next election comes along – means his VP may end up running for president as early as 2024.
Yet there is plenty of time for those markets to wobble. After all, presidents and VPs in their first 100 days in office usually see a bump in their polling numbers, as well as their betting odds. This happened with Barack Obama and Trump.
What’s more, the spectre of Trump will likely hang over this presidency. The businessman is not expected to quit politics and has a strong base from which to build, should he decide to run in 2024.
Trump is expected to pitch his claim for the Republican candidacy at the next election, and Harris will likely have to ride a political and media storm if she is to challenge him head-on.
Harris Still Courting Favour
Meanwhile, simply having Harris on the ticket isn’t enough to convince Americans to vote for her.
On the eve of the 2020 US election a poll by the Independent found just 28 per cent of Americans agreed that Harris should one-day be president, while 44 per cent disagreed.
America remains a deeply divided nation on political grounds and the success of Biden’s first administration will likely rest on how it ‘heals’ the country post-Trump and post-Covid. The success of which will be gauged at the next election.
