Rising stars rally around Biden’s re-election
WASHINGTON — Pennsylvania’s Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro is set to address presidential primary voters in New Hampshire on Saturday.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is working to strengthen Democratic parties across the Midwest. And California Gov. Gavin Newsom was the Biden campaign’s surrogate during the second Republican presidential debate last week — and he’s agreed to a one-on-one debate against a top GOP presidential contender.
As Biden faces concerns, including from voters in his own party, about his prospects in a grueling reelection campaign, a new generation of high-profile Democrats are fanning out for the 80-year-old president. Those close to the ambitious Democrats insist they are focused squarely on the 2024 campaign when Biden may face a tough rematch against Donald Trump.
But in building their national profiles, they’re also positioning themselves for what could be a contentious 2028 primary — and giving the party something of an insurance policy in case they are suddenly needed next year.
“We’ve got a lot of talent in our party, and that talent is unified behind the reelection of President Joe Biden,” Shapiro said in an interview. “And I’m excited for the next couple of years, and for the future of our party. I think we’re in a strong position.”
AGE ISSUE
Biden announced his reelection bid in April and his allies insist only an unforeseen physical challenge could force him from the race.
He’s taking all the usual steps to support a growing reelection effort, including adding staff to his Wilmington, Delaware-based campaign that now employs about 50 people. The campaign is also launching a spree of advertising with the Democratic National Committee. The push includes a months-long, $25 million digital and television blitz focused on issues ranging from the administration’s economic policies to efforts to protect abortion rights. The pieces are airing in battleground states such as Arizona, Georgia and Pennsylvania.
The administration has a record they’re eager to run on, including signing into law major investments in health care, climate change, pandemic relief and the economy. Inflation is ticking down, while the unemployment rate and economic growth remain strong. The GOP’s efforts to roll back abortion rights have repelled many voters, even in Republicanleaning states. And he’s issuing increasingly dire warnings about the implications of a Trump win for American democracy, delivering a passionate speech on the issue Thursday in Arizona.
“We should all remember, democracies don’t have to die at the end of a rifle,” Biden said. “They can die when people are silent, when they fail to stand up or condemn threats to democracy, when people are willing to give away that which is most precious to them because they feel frustrated, disillusioned, tired, alienated.”
For now, such efforts haven’t lifted Biden’s weak approval ratings or neutralized the political fallout from an evolving criminal case against his son. And it’s done little to address what may be the president’s most potent vulnerability: his age. Set to turn 81 in November, he would be 86 at the end of a second term. About three-quarters of Americans — 77% — said Biden is too old to be effective for another four years, according to a poll released last month from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. That view was held by 89% of Republicans and, notably, 69% of Democrats.
CONTINGENCY PLANNING
Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif. is a progressive leader who has already spoken to New Hampshire’s presidential primary voters three times this year. In an interview, he warned Democrats against promoting a message of “triumphalism” in 2024 by simply touting Biden’s accomplishments.
“The American dream has slipped away for too many Americans. The working class has been shafted and there’s still a lot of anger out there,” Khanna said. “We’re trying to turn the ship, but it’s it’s gonna require bolder and more focused action to help the working class.”
The conversation among Democrats is blunter in private. On the sidelines of a recent meeting of the National Governors Association in New Hampshire, several senior Democratic aides were overheard by a reporter discussing the type of candidate who could stand in for Biden if needed.
And at least one major political group aligned with Democrats is in the process of formulating a contingency plan in the unlikely event Biden is not on the ballot, according to a top official with that group who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal planning. The group is also developing options for the possibility Trump, the overwhelming front-runner in the GOP primary, is not the Republican nominee.
DEEPEST BENCHES
The Biden re-election campaign said any group questioning the president being on the 2024 ballot isn’t aligned with anyone of consequence in the Democratic Party.
“I don’t have any indication — it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist — that the White House is thinking about not running,” veteran Democratic strategist James Carville said. “Having said that, every poll is worse.”
The chatter is fueled by a lack of confidence among some donors and party officials in Vice President Kamala Harris as a Biden successor. She has struggled with weak ratings of her own.
In New Hampshire, Democratic officials still angry that Biden moved South Carolina ahead of the state on the party’s 2024 presidential primary calendar have been increasingly willing to welcome would-be alternatives to the state.
Former state House Speaker Steve Shurtleff, a longtime Biden ally, is openly encouraging the president to back out of the 2024 campaign. The Democratic Party “absolutely” needs to have a contingency, Shurtleff said, adding that he and other Democrats want more options beyond Harris.
“Something’s got to be done. It can’t be just that we’ll anoint the vice president if the president has to step down or something happens,” Shurtleff said. “I’m still hoping that (Biden) will say, ‘I won’t run after all.’”
Biden has long cast himself as uniquely positioned to defeat Trump. Democrats united behind him in the 2020 campaign largely for that reason. But after years in which the party struggled to identity and elevate future leaders, Democrats now have one of their deepest benches in recent memory thanks largely to a wave of high-profile governors finding success in last fall’s midterm elections.