Numerous high-ranking Democrats have told AWN that they are cautiously warming up to the idea of President Joe Biden running for reelection in 2024.
But as poll after poll demonstrates, they are still unsure whether he should or won’t do it, just like many funders and voters.
Top Democrats’ attitudes have noticeably changed in recent months. According to four people who were present when the conversations took place, some party leaders from across the nation huddled in the Hilton’s hallways in March when the DNC was holding its annual gathering just a few streets from the White House. They winced, groaned, and muttered as they sipped beverages, looking around to make sure no one was listening: What could they do to prevent Biden from standing for reelection once more?
Jim Roosevelt, a prominent DNC member and the grandson of a president who sought for reelection more frequently than any other, claimed that “there were individuals who were not sure he would be the ideal candidate.”
The mood had changed by the time those same state party chairs and executive directors were back in the nation’s capital for their fall meeting two weeks prior. The effects of Biden’s successful summer have already spread. Despite growing legal issues, concerns over a radical Donald Trump restoration are still quite high. If Biden chose against running for reelection, a possibly tense open primary would be in the cards.
After the President’s address in Philadelphia on the fight for democracy’s soul, Jessica Velasquez, chair of the state’s Democratic Party, observed a “dramatic shift” in New Mexico. He simply continues popping up, which is part of the problem. The chair of a state party who wished to remain unnamed continued, “People were complaining because nothing was passing. We are now receiving the Biden that everyone voted for.
In the past six weeks, there has been a resurgence of optimism regarding the President’s possibilities of running for reelection inside the White House, both in the West Wing and in first lady Dr. Jill Biden’s offices. They have a chip-on-the-shoulder underdog mindset and claim that people are sceptical of Biden and declare they are not enthusiastic about him before he pulls it all together and triumphs. They claim that he did it after being written off during the 2020 primary, when running against Trump, then again in the spring, when it was believed that his presidency had petered out.
Now that he is, they were prepared to board.
People would want him to do it, according to Roosevelt, if he feels capable of doing it.
Given that Biden is already the oldest president in history and has a less active public schedule than his predecessors, it is unclear how lengthy a campaign he would run. However, despite making only a few appearances recently, his poll ratings have been steadily rising.
Biden had delivered another of his more animated speeches at his event in Washington on Friday. He ripped into Republicans while pacing the stage with a handheld microphone, and he left the stage to the sound of Daft Punk’s “One More Time.”
But despite the fact that most Democrats would prefer to put a stop to the never-ending “Is he going to run?” debate, Biden continues igniting it.
“As I stated at the outset, my objective is to run again. However, it’s only an intention. But have you really decided that I should run again? That is still up in the air, Biden acknowledged in an interview with “60 Minutes” that aired last Sunday.
Advisors brushed off such response as merely an attempt to heed lawyers’ advice to refrain from anticipatorily invoking Federal Elections Commission regulations governing funding and activity. Many other people are not persuaded.
People in and in the President’s orbit want him to decide by early 2023, probably by Martin Luther King Jr. Day, after he returns from his annual Christmas with the Biden family.
A senior Democrat who regularly interacts with the President told AWN, speaking under the condition of anonymity to discuss a very delicate matter, “He will decide when he decides.” And he very rarely makes decisions any earlier than necessary.
Even informed fans who declare they are entirely behind Biden 2024 add swiftly that of course he will need to consult with his family to determine what is best for him and that, above all, they are aware that the first lady is the key player.
This kind of persistent uncertainty about seeking reelection that stretches from Pennsylvania Avenue to Pennsylvania has never been experienced by a sitting president.
When asked if he would support Biden for reelection, Dave Henderson, the executive director of AFSCME Council 13 in Pennsylvania and a union leader from Pittsburgh, paused. Henderson said he had backed the President from the beginning of his 2020 campaign and remained enthused.
Henderson responded, “Tough question; I’m not sure he’s going to run for reelection.”
When Henderson learned that Biden had declared his intention to run, he instantly endorsed him, saying, “If he’s running, then I’ve got his back.”
Sen. Chris Coons, a close ally of the President and the Delaware Democrat who currently holds Sen. Joe Biden’s old seat, told AWN that the President “is seriously considering running” for office. He also brushed aside any speculation based on the “60 Minutes” interview or elsewhere.
He previously defeated Donald Trump, and he will do so once more. Joe Biden is the best Democrat to defeat Donald Trump in 2024, in my opinion, if that’s how this election ends up, Coons added.
Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado said he would be eager to have the President come campaign for him while standing on the White House driveway earlier this month after attending the Inflation Reduction Act celebration. Bennet is one of the incumbent Democrats facing a formidable GOP opponent in November.
But I’d say it’s something more significant than that: It reflects a completely different ethic than the turmoil of the Trump White House, Bennet said. “People have linked that it’s Democrats delivering,” he said.
