I strongly believe a woman—a Black woman—can become president of the United States. I just don’t believe Kamala Harris can. So, while it pains me to say it, I hope she will consider following Joe Biden’s lead by putting the country first and stepping aside.

My family, some of whom agree with me on this, worried writing this column would disappoint other Black women who disagree. Those same Black women, however, will be hurt worse by the election of Donald Trump again. Despite her general favorability ratings being lower than Donald Trump’s and four preceding vice presidents, I was still open to being convinced that Kamala Harris has a viable path to the presidency. Recent polling of Black voters, however, provided a much-needed reality check.

A recent poll of Black voters in swing states found that Harris polls a couple of points better than Biden—both landing in the 70s, behind former President Barack Obama, whose favorables stand at 90 percent and whose unfavorables are at 10 percent. The vice president’s unfavorables among Black voters stand at 22 percent.

To some that may sound insignificant, but when considering how close our last few elections have been, it’s not. Consider this: In 2008 Obama won 95 percent of Black male voters and 96 percent of Black women. His next election he won 96 percent of Black women and 87 percent of Black men. Hillary Clinton’s support among Black men slipped to 82 percent and her support among Black women to 94 percent. She lost. Black voters comprise approximately 25 percent of the Democratic voting bloc.

That means if a Democratic candidate doesn’t knock it out of the park with Black voters, things turn pretty desperate pretty fast. For Kamala Harris, they already are. Like........

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