Biden’s standing fuels Democratic worry about 2024
COLUMBUS, Ohio — When President Joe Biden arrived in New Hampshire last week to promote the $1 trillion package at the foot of a crumbling bridge, not all of his VIP guests were in the mood to celebrate.
“Democrats are concerned,” former state House Speaker Steve Shurtleff, a longtime Mr. Biden supporter who attended the ceremony, said when asked about Mr. Biden’s political standing. “I’m concerned about where we may be in another couple of years when people really start to gear up and start making trips to New Hampshire.”
Mr. Shurtleff was saying what a growing number of Democrats have been whispering for months: Mr. Biden’s political standing is so weak less than a year into his presidency that he may not be able to win reelection in 2024. Such anxiety-fueled parlor games are common among Washington’s political class, but this one has spread to the states and constituencies that will play a central role in the next presidential election.
Vice President Kamala Harris is facing her own conundrum with polls suggesting she may be less popular than her unpopular boss. Ms. Harris has been given few opportunities by the Biden White House to shine.
She delivered her first solo speech to promote the new infrastructure law on Friday in Ohio’s capital city, addressing a mostly empty union hall largely absent of political dignitaries. For now, there’s little to suggest the legislation will quickly improve Democrats’ political standing.
While Mr. Biden’s approval ratings are hovering in the low 40s, they are better than Donald Trump’s at the same time of his presidency.
Democratic strategist Bill Burton, who worked in the
Obama White House, noted that any number of factors could completely upend the
political climate, such as Mr.
Trump’s reemergence, a Supreme Court decision ending or dramatically limiting abortion rights, an improving economy and the end of the pandemic.
Mr. Biden has declared his intent to run, and his aides say the Democratic National Committee and Mr. Biden’s political team are actively moving forward with the assumption he will seek a second term.
They believe Mr. Biden’s position will improve as voters digest the new infrastructure law and the $2 trillion social spending and climate bill currently moving through Congress. Already, the DNC and its allies are focusing significant resources on selling the Democrats’ accomplishments in key states before the 2022 midterm elections — states such as Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
Ohio Democrat Nina Turner, who served as cochair of Bernie Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign, said “very little has changed” for the poor and middle-class since Mr. Biden replaced Mr. Trump. The infrastructure bill does not change that, she said.
“The question becomes, ‘Why am I helping you to hold to power, when the power you have right now you’re not using on my behalf?’” Ms. Turner said of Mr. Biden. “That’s called insanity — asking me to vote for you, asking the Black community to come out for you in 2022 or 2024 when you ain’t doing nothing in 2021.”
Indeed, Rev. Al Sharpton, a civil rights activist who attended the White House signing ceremony for the infrastructure bill, warned that Mr. Biden was approaching “the red zone” with Black voters.
Mr. Sharpton said he urged Mr. Biden to fight harder to enact a policing overhaul and protect voting rights.
“They’ve got to between now and the end of January crank it up or they’re going to have real problems,” Mr. Sharpton said.