Vice President Kamala Harris is hitting the campaign trail as her party seeks to keep the White House for the next four years. The question is which other Democrats can help her out.

Harris is seen as an important surrogate for President Joe Biden in reaching black, Latino, and younger voters. She made an appearance last week before a group of union members and will launch a nationwide abortion rights tour on Jan. 22, the anniversary of the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.

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“More than most of her recent predecessors, she has embraced a role as public spokesperson for the administration regarding issues of importance, such as reproductive rights, climate change, gun violence, [and] inclusivity,” Saint Louis University professor Joel Goldstein recently told the Washington Examiner. “And she has played an important diplomatic role, handling presidential assignments regarding central global and bilateral issues.”

Speaking to the party’s base is a traditional role for vice presidents, one that Harris may be especially attuned to given her status as the first female and minority vice president.

But Harris is stumping for the 81-year-old Biden, who ran four years ago promising to be a bridge to the next generation of Democratic politicians. The fact that he still commands the spotlight today may speak to the weakness of the party’s younger would-be candidates.

Harris has faced her own questions about electability and whether she can connect with voters. Her approval rating sits at 35.9%, per the RealClearPolitics average, a historically low figure that lags below that of her boss. She is also tasked with reaching a wide swath of voters and could use help from state-level Democratic surrogates.

Plenty of figures have drawn at least some buzz about a future presidential campaign, mostly notably Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA). But Newsom has built so much of a national profile that he often draws questions about when his own presidential campaign will start.

Beyond Harris and Newsom are a slew of governors who show promise but have not yet broken out on the national stage, such as Govs. Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI), Andy Beshear (D-KY), and Wes Moore (D-MD).

At the other end of the spectrum are Democratic superstars of decades gone by who can still electrify a crowd but who represent the past rather than the future.

Party leaders insist that each will help out in their own way as Biden makes what is almost certainly the last run of his 50-year political career.

“The Obamas drum up incredible excitement still, but the surrogate tapped really depends on the audience they’re speaking to,” said Tom Cochran, a Democratic strategist and a partner at 720 Strategies. “Whitmer, Moore, Beshear, Newsom are all excellent in the right setting. Most important is stressing that this is a team effort to keep the White House for the Democrats.”

That shouldn’t be a problem with the prospect of former President Donald Trump reentering the White House becoming a real possibility.

Biden himself made that case with a lengthy Friday afternoon speech near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, in which he decried Trump as a loser and an existential threat to democracy. While that specific speech was made to mark the third anniversary of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, the threat Trump poses to democracy will surely be a prominent theme for other party leaders as Election Day nears.

The shine has definitely come off of some politicos who were once among the Democratic Party’s top stars. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), 82, is not running for president again after becoming a darling among progressives during the 2016 and 2020 cycles. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg won the 2020 Iowa caucus but has struggled with a series of controversies as a member of Biden’s Cabinet.

One Democrat who does think the party needs younger blood is Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN), who says he tried to get more prominent members of his party to run this year before deciding to do so himself.

And Republicans will be sure to argue that Biden’s presence on the campaign trail at 81 speaks to a lack of talent in the ranks, dubbing him a low-energy presence who needs lots of rest.

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But longtime Democratic strategist Michael Stratton says the bench is ready and willing to back Biden this year before it turns to the rising stars occupying governors’ offices.

“Despite all the things that the media wants to write, or some people will say, the party will be very, very united behind the president,” Stratton said. “There will be a lot of people who will be out there campaigning in swing states, and the Democratic governors are a perfect example of where there will be strength for Biden.”