Biden should not run in 2024, and—believe me—it has nothing to do with his age.
SimonSays #19 - As we start 2023, it's time to start worrying about 2024.
During President Macron's state visit to the United States last week, the First Lady shared that she and her husband were ready for re-election. But while the Bidens and Macrons were toasting to re-election, Democrats throughout the country were not celebrating.
Some worry that Biden shouldn't run again because of his age, but for me–in all honesty!–age has nothing to do with it. The President's poor track record, low approval ratings, and general indecisiveness make him unfit to lead the Party beyond 2024.
True, President Biden played a vital role in helping Democrats gain power after four years of a Trump administration. The President has had to lead in difficult times since the beginning of his term both domestically, with the pandemic, higher unemployment, and increased inflation, and globally, with tensions between China and Taiwan and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. President Biden has also had legislative successes in the last two years with the Inflation Reduction Act and American Rescue Plan.
Overall, President Biden has well played his role as the wise elder statesman and achieved what he was elected to do: beat Trump, lead the country during a crisis and bring normalcy back to the presidency.
And yet, while keeping Trump out of power might remain the Democrats' main priority, Biden might no longer be capable of achieving it.
President Biden does not have the necessary leadership to lead the Democrats to the White House in 2024, and it has nothing to do with his age. He has proven this on multiple occasions during his time in office, with the monumental fiasco in Afghanistan, the failure to curb inflation, which reached its highest level since 1982, and his passive reaction to Democratic infighting. Refusing to take a public stance on his re-election and letting his spouse do the talking for him is another example of his indecisiveness. It does not appear as a solid foundation on which to build a vigorous re-election campaign.
It is primarily these leadership failures–rather than his age–that explain Biden's poor approval ratings, including among his own party, which will mean that a Biden re-election might be very challenging for the Democrats. At the time of this writing, on day 692 of Biden's presidency, the President's approval ratings were at 42%, which is 0.5 points lower than Trump's approval ratings on day 692 of his term. It is the second-lowest approval rating at this point in the term of any president since 1945. Leaders within the Democratic party have started to privately worry about 2024 and doubt whether Biden will be the best opponent to fight President Trump, Governor DeSantis, or another GOP candidate.
There is increasing evidence that in 2024, voters will want neither Biden nor Trump on the ballot. In 2020, Biden benefited from the anti-Trump vote, but in 2024, that effect will not be as pronounced, and, quite the opposite, his opponent could benefit from an anti-Biden vote. A recent CNBC poll revealed that while 61% of those surveyed thought Trump should not run for election, the number climbed to 70% for Biden. While Republicans will be able to choose between multiple candidates in their primary, if Biden decides to run for re-election, Democrats will not have that same luxury.
The midterms have shown that Democratic voters are willing to go to the polls to fight for issues they care about and support candidates they believe in. But who among the Democrats right now is inspiring Democratic voters with a progressive, vigorous agenda? When was the last time you read front-page news articles about Vice President Harris, Secretary Buttigieg, or other potential 2024 Democratic candidates? There are many qualified Democratic candidates, yet, Biden's silence means none has dared to surface. Worse, most have already shared their support for Biden.
It is time for the Democratic party to create the space necessary for other Democratic leaders to emerge.
President Biden holds all the cards — as only once has a sitting President been denied his party's nomination — and he is the only person who benefits from the current situation. The longer he delays his decision, the more essential and central he becomes to the Democratic strategy for 2024. How long can Biden maintain this ambiguity without being challenged?
As the Democratic party leadership continues to fail to challenge Biden on his re-election, campaign war rooms in Tallahassee and Mar-a-Lago are sharpening their pencils, clearing their voices, and getting ready for the beginning of an arduous fight to retake the White House in 2024.
And unlike me, they will be talking about President Biden's age.
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