CBS News
CBS News poll: Democrats feel election chances improved after Biden exit and back Kamala Harris as nominee
The nation’s Democrats are reacting positively to President Biden stepping aside as the party’s nominee, with many believing that will improve their chances of beating Donald Trump in November, while also overwhelmingly saying Mr. Biden’s legacy will be excellent or good.
Voters aren’t all political strategists, of course, but here’s how they size up the party’s chances from here:
They are much likelier to say their chances of beating Trump have gotten better than worse now, though about three in 10 say it depends on who the nominee is.
And those saying their chances have improved are more likely to approve of Mr. Biden’s decision to exit the race.
Both men and women Democrats think the party’s chances have improved, on balance, but it’s Democratic men who are especially likely to say so.
White Democrats are more likely than Black Democrats to approve of Biden stepping aside, and White Democrats are also more likely to say that the party’s chances have improved now.
What now for Democrats?
Most Democrats would nominate Vice President Kamala Harris now. With no formal challenger to her so far, the two options presented were to nominate Harris or a generic “someone else,” and about eight in 10 Democrats would go with Harris.
Similarly sized majorities express a preference for Harris, whether they are male or female, younger or older, and White, Black or Hispanic.
Ideology makes a bit of difference: liberal Democrats are even more likely than moderate Democrats to say so.
On timing, a majority would have the party pick a candidate now; four in 10 would wait until the convention.
Looking back at Biden
Two-thirds of Democrats feel Mr. Biden was treated fairly by party leaders while he made his decision.
Democratic voters have an overwhelmingly positive view of what Mr. Biden’s legacy will be. Most believe people will look back on it as excellent or good.
In an election where much of the difference has been about motivation, four in 10 Democrats say Mr. Biden’s stepping aside makes them more motivated to vote now. But that’s an initial feeling. Over the coming weeks, this is a sentiment that might prove critical to Democrats’ fortunes, as Trump led the race going into the weekend, and was already leading Harris in a hypothetical matchup in previous polling.
This CBS News/YouGov survey is based on a national sample of 1,071 registered voters who identify as Democrats interviewed July 21-22, 2024. All respondents participated in earlier national surveys of registered voters fielded July 11-13 and July 16-18, 2024. The sample was weighted by gender, age, race, and education based upon the U.S. Census American Community Survey, and the U.S. Census Current Population Survey, as well as 2020 Presidential vote and weighted to account for differential response rates. The margin of error for the total sample is ±3.4 points.
At least 11 employees were taken to hospitals and residents were urged to shelter in place on Tuesday after an explosion at a Louisville, Kentucky, business.
The Louisville Metro Emergency Services reported on social media a “hazardous materials incident” at 1901 Payne St., in Louisville. The address belongs to a facility operated by Givaudan Sense Colour, a manufacturer of food colorings for soft drinks and other products, according to officials and online records.
Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said emergency teams responded to the blast around 3 p.m. News outlets reported that neighbors heard what sounded like an explosion coming from the business. Overhead news video footage showed an industrial building with a large hole in its roof.
WLKY-TV
“The cause at this point of the explosion is unknown,” Greenberg said in a news conference. No one died in the explosion, he added.
Greenberg said officials spoke to employees inside the plant. “They have initially conveyed that everything was normal activity when the explosion occurred,” he said.
The Louisville Fire Department said in a post on the social platform X that multiple agencies were responding to a “large-scale incident.”
The Louisville Metro Emergency Services first urged people within a mile of the business to shelter in place, but that order was lifted in the afternoon. An evacuation order for the two surrounding blocks around the site of the explosion was still in place Tuesday afternoon.
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A rare square 37-carat emerald owned by the Aga Khan fetched nearly $9 million at auction in Geneva on Tuesday, making it the world’s most expensive green stone.
Sold by Christie’s, the Cartier diamond and emerald brooch, which can also be worn as a pendant, dethrones a piece of jewelry made by the fashion house Bulgari, which Richard Burton gave as a wedding gift to fellow actor Elizabeth Taylor, as the most precious emerald.
In 1960, Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan commissioned Cartier to set the emerald in a brooch with 20 marquise-cut diamonds for British socialite Nina Dyer, to whom he was briefly married.
Dyer then auctioned off the emerald to raise money for animals in 1969.
FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images
By chance that was Christie’s very first such sale in Switzerland on the shores of Lake Geneva, with the emerald finding its way back to the 110th edition this year.
It was bought by jeweler Van Cleef & Arpels before passing a few years later into the hands of Harry Winston, nicknamed the “King of Diamonds.”
“Emeralds are hot right now, and this one ticks all the boxes,” said Christie’s EMEA Head of Jewellery Max Fawcett. “…We might see an emerald of this quality come up for sale once every five or six years.”
Also set with diamonds, the previous record-holder fetched $6.5 million at an auction of part of Hollywood legend Elizabeth Taylor’s renowned jewelry collection in New York.
