Opinion
Since President Biden agreed to step aside to make way for Kamala Harris at the top of the Democratic ticket, no other top Democrats have announced their candidacy. Many party leaders are coalescing behind Harris, but some veteran Democrats — and many voters — are still grappling with who would fare best against Donald Trump. We asked eight Opinion columnists and contributors to assess the field of potential contenders. Some of the people on our list have already endorsed Harris, in a show of party unity. But the nomination has not been locked up yet; some of the names on this list are long shots, and some could emerge as possible Democratic running mates.
We asked the writers to give scores on two dimensions: For the first, on a scale of 0 to 10, 0 means the person would have no chance of beating Trump; 10 means he or she would crush him. For the second, 0 means the person would inspire no enthusiasm; 10 means people would love him or her.