A Republican political consultant has published an opinion piece arguing that Vice President Kamala Harris must publicly distance herself from former President Joe Biden and his family if she hopes to win the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination.
Keith Naughton, co-founder of Silent Majority Strategies and a former Pennsylvania GOP campaign consultant, wrote in The Hill that "there is always opportunity" for Democratic candidates to gain ground by positioning themselves as a break from the current administration's legacy. He argued that Biden's low approval ratings at the end of his presidency, combined with questions about his medical fitness during the 2024 campaign, create an opening for Harris or other primary contenders.
What the Left Is Saying
Progressives and some Democratic strategists have offered a more nuanced view of the Biden-Harris relationship. Some party activists note that Harris has already begun establishing her own policy priorities as vice president, including work on voting rights and reproductive freedom, without explicitly criticizing the administration she serves in.
Senator Elizabeth Warren and other progressive leaders have emphasized building on Biden's legislative achievements rather than distancing from them. A November 2024 post-election analysis by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee argued that Harris lost due to economic messaging failures and voter concerns about inflation, not association with Biden himself.
"The path forward is to run on what we accomplished together," one senior Democratic strategist told Politico in January, speaking anonymously to discuss internal deliberations. "The Affordable Care Act expansions, the infrastructure investments, the CHIPS Act — these are popular when people know about them."
What the Right Is Saying
Naughton's argument reflects a broader Republican strategic interest in keeping Biden's political legacy alive as a foil for Democratic candidates. His piece contends that Harris "needs to explain away why she lost the presidency to Trump" and that throwing Biden "overboard accomplishes both tasks" of addressing her 2024 defeat while presenting herself as a break from past politics.
Conservative commentators have similarly argued that Biden's pardons of associates and family members in his final weeks in office provide ammunition for any future Democratic challenger. The Atlantic's David Graham wrote in January that "the Bidens represent the party's past, not its future" but questioned whether Harris has the political instincts to make a clean break.
Former Trump campaign strategist Steve Cortes argued on social media that Biden's "geriatric politics" are toxic with younger voters and that any Democratic candidate who can position themselves as generational change would benefit. "The Democrat who buries Biden first wins," Cortes wrote in January, echoing Naughton's framing.
What the Numbers Show
Biden left office with historically low approval numbers for a departing president. Gallup tracking showed his average job approval at 39.9 percent during his final year in office, making him one of the least popular presidents at term end in modern polling history.
A January 2026 Quinnipiac University poll found Harris leading potential Democratic primary opponents with 34 percent support among Democratic and Democratic-leaning voters, followed by California Governor Gavin Newsom at 12 percent. However, only 28 percent of respondents said they wanted Harris to run again, suggesting significant ambivalence about her candidacy.
Harris lost the 2024 presidential election to Donald Trump by approximately 3.5 percentage points in the national popular vote and failed to carry any swing states won by Biden in 2020, according to certified election results from state officials.
The Bottom Line
Naughton's argument highlights a genuine strategic dilemma facing Harris and other potential 2028 Democratic candidates: whether association with the Biden administration is an asset or liability in a post-Trump Republican era. While Republicans clearly hope Democrats will cannibalize each other over the Biden legacy, some Democratic strategists argue that unity around accomplishments is a safer path.
Several potential primary contenders have so far avoided direct criticism of Biden publicly while quietly building their own donor networks and political operations. The 2028 primary race remains in early stages, with no formal candidate announcements expected until at least late 2027.