According to a new report, Democrats for 2024 see President Biden, whose polls are falling as fast as prices are rising, as a responsibility he could lose to a Republican.
Some in his own party fear that Biden’s age, weakened political stance, perceived tremor on the world stage and lack of ability to excite voters could reduce his chances of re-election.
“To say that our country is on the right track would be a blatant departure from reality,” Steve Simeonidis, a member of Miami’s Democratic National Committee, told the New York Times.
The president “should announce his intention not to seek re-election on the 24th just after the mid-term,” Simeonidis said.
Some Democrats have expressed dissatisfaction with Biden’s candidacy for the presidency in 2024.AP Photo / Evan Vucci
Biden and his administration are stunned by the highest inflation rate in four decades, gasoline prices soaring beyond $ 5 a gallon, recent terrible mass shootings in Buffalo and Texas, a Supreme Court who seems willing to overthrow Roe v. an internal agenda that has stalled even though Democrats have a majority in Congress.
Democratic lawmakers and party officials are pessimistic about Biden’s ability to rally the base if the party suffers a Republican runoff in the 2022 midterm elections and are concerned about his ability to impose a again in a face-to-face confrontation with the ex. President Donald Trump reported the newspaper on Saturday.
Biden and his administration are dealing with gasoline prices that have skyrocketed beyond $ 5 a gallon.EPA / JOHN G. MABANGLO
There are questions about whether Biden, who would turn 82 on the opening day of 2024, could face a grueling presidential campaign and increased media pressure, especially when he has kept the press at bay by giving fewer interviews than any of his immediate predecessors. .
“The presidency is a monstrously imposing job, and the stark reality is that the president would be closer to the ’90s than the’ 80s at the end of a second term, and that would be an important issue,” said David Axelrod, chief strategist. two Barack Obama winners. presidential campaigns, he told the Times.
Axelrod said the president has not received the credit he deserves for piloting the country through the coronavirus pandemic, unifying NATO against the Russian invasion of Ukraine and “restoring decency and decorum in the White House.” .
“And part of the reason he doesn’t do it is performative. He looks old and not as agile in front of a camera as he used to be, and this has fueled a narrative about competition that is not rooted in reality, “said the longtime political agent.
There are questions about whether Biden, who will turn 82 on the opening day of 2024, could face a grueling presidential campaign and increased media pressure.JIM WATSON / AFP via Getty Images
Biden’s job approval rating has dropped to 33%, according to a Quinnipiac University survey released last week.
At the same time, 64% of Americans are discouraged by their handling of the economy, and 34% agree that inflation is the most pressing problem facing the nation.
Jasmine Crockett, a Texas state representative who won a second round for a Democratic seat last month, was reluctant to criticize the president.
But he noted that while Republicans in the lone star state have passed bills to restrict abortion and voting rights, Democrats in Congress have failed to push for a progressive agenda despite having light majorities. both in the House and in the Senate.
The Biden administration has been facing an increase in mass shootings since early 2022.AP Photo / Matt Rourke
“Democrats say, ‘What the hell is going on?'” Crockett told the Times. “Our country is sinking completely. And so I think we’re missing the excitement.”
Faiz Shakir, who was Sen. Bernie Sanders’ campaign manager in 2020, said Biden is being pursued by a perception of weakness among some Democrats who want him to fight harder with Republicans.
Shakir said he believes Biden would defeat Trump a second time, but if Republicans nominate someone like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Democrats may want to look for a candidate elsewhere.
“If it’s DeSantis or someone, I think it would be a different kind of challenge,” Shakir told the newspaper.
Shelia Huggins, a lawyer from Durham, North Carolina, and a member of the Democratic National Committee, came straight to the point.
The Supreme Court is also ready to set aside the Roe v. Wade governing abortion laws. Photo AP / Jacquelyn Martin, Archive
“Democrats need fresh, bold leadership for the 2024 presidential race,” he told the Times. “This can’t be Biden.”
Not only is Biden’s job approval figures falling, but the strength of his support among the grassroots is faltering, especially among black voters who proved overwhelming for him in the 2020 presidential race.
Adrianne Shropshire, executive director of BlackPAC, an African-American political organizing group, said she was concerned that black voters would not vote for Biden again after her administration failed to deliver on promises of criminal justice and voting reform.
“Does this frustration and discomfort, worry and fear, translate into a constant gap of enthusiasm, and does that make people feel that their participation is not making a significant change?” she said. “That’s the real question.”
Photos of 19 children and two teachers killed in a mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas on May 30, 2022. AFP via Getty Images
But members of the administration and Democratic officials said that despite the series of problems plaguing the administration, they believe Biden is the party’s best choice in 2024.
“Only one person led a transition beyond the lies and judicial challenges and the Trump insurrection to take office on January 20: Joe Biden,” Anita Dunn, the president’s senior adviser, told the Times.
Some said they have heard the same uncertainty about who should be the Democrat standard before.
“This is the same joke we heard about Barack Obama in 2010 and 2011,” Ben LaBolt, who worked on Obama’s campaigns, told the newspaper.
Few Democrats told the Times that candidates considering a White House candidacy would be rejected by Vice President Kamala Harris, who has stumbled on the job and poll numbers are also plummeting.
But they noted that many of the potential Democratic candidates in 2024: Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, and Cory Booker of New Jersey, lost to Biden in the 2020 Democratic primary.
Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, who ran unsuccessfully for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination, said the party should look for a younger group of candidates.
A villain stops to pay his respects at a monument at Robb Elementary School, created to honor the victims killed in the recent school shooting. Photo AP / Eric Gay
“The generation behind me is just a lot of rubbish,” said Dean, 73.
Dean, who said he voted for Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg in 2020, told the Times that Democratic leaders have spent a lot of time talking about what they want to do, without achieving their goals.
“We need to have concrete examples of how we are dealing with things; it can’t just be cake in the sky and kumbaya, ”Dean said.