Politics in Ohio air as Biden visits future Intel chip plant
NEW ALBANY, Ohio — President Joe Biden steered clear of partisan politics at Friday’s groundbreaking celebration for a huge new computer chip facility in Ohio — as a tough Senate contest in that state and a Democratic candidate seeking to distance himself from Biden reflected the challenge of translating White House policy wins into political gains.
Biden, a major force behind the legislation that helped lure Intel, went to suburban Columbus to take a victory lap just as voters in the state are starting to tune in to the Senate race between Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan and Republican author and venture capital executive JD Vance. They’re competing in a former swing state that has trended Republican over the past decade.
Ryan attended the event but raised questions in interviews about whether he thinks Biden should pursue reelection in 2024. Vance did not attend.
The president, in his speech, thanked Ryan for his leadership without mentioning his Senate candidacy, choosing instead to emphasize that the Intel plant serves as a model for a U.S. economy that revolves around technology, factories and the middle class.
“Folks, we need to make these chips right here in America to bring down everyday costs and create good jobs,” Biden said. “Industry leaders are choosing us, the United States, because they see America’s back and America’s leading the way.”
Touring the construction site, the president chatted with unionized workers
in hard hats and noted his own blue-collar credentials, saying, “These are my people, where I come from.”
Intel had delayed groundbreaking on the $20 billion plant until Congress passed the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act. The plant speaks to how the president is trying to revive American manufacturing nationwide, including in states that are solidly Republican or political toss-ups. Investments for manufacturing facilities in Arizona, Idaho and North Carolina have been announced in recent weeks.
Factory work is one of the few issues going into November’s midterm elections that has crossover appeal at a time when issues such as abortion, inflation and even the nature of democracy have dominated the contest to control Congress. Biden shared the stage Friday with Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and Sen. Rob Portman, two Republicans who emphasized in their remarks the value the plant holds in a state with a working-class identity.
Ryan, the Democrat vying to succeed Portman, did not take to the lectern even though he championed the plant, hesitant to share a stage with Biden, for appearing with the country’s top Democrat could hurt his chances in a state that backed Republican Donald
Trump by eight points in 2016 and 2020.
Ryan skipped the president’s July 6 visit to Cleveland where Biden plugged his administration’s efforts to shore up troubled pension programs for blue-collar workers. Biden nonetheless referred to him as the “future Senator Tim Ryan” and thanked him for his “incredible work” on the legislation.
In a Thursday TV interview with Youngstown’s WFMJ on the eve of Biden’s visit, Ryan said he was “campaigning as an independent.” When asked if Biden should seek a second term, he said, “My hunch is that we need new leadership across the board, Democrats, Republicans, I think it’s time for like a generational move.”
Pressed Friday about his comments in the interview, Ryan said that Biden himself has said he “was going to be a bridge to the next generation, which is basically what I was saying.” Pressed on whether Biden should run in 2024, Ryan offered a noncommittal, “That’s up to him.”
The open Senate seat in Ohio is one of several hotly contested races that could determine whether Democrats can hold their slim majority in the chamber for the second half of Biden’s term.