WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden on Tuesday formally announced that he is running for reelection in 2024, asking voters to give him more time to \u201cfinish the job\u201d he began when he was sworn in to office and to set aside their concerns about extending the run of America\u2019s oldest president for another four years.<\/p>\n
Biden, who would be 86 at the end of a second term, is betting his first-term legislative achievements and more than 50 years of experience in Washington will count for more than concerns over his age. He faces a smooth path to winning his party\u2019s nomination, with no serious Democratic rivals. But he\u2019s still set for a hard-fought struggle to retain the presidency in a bitterly divided nation.<\/p>\n
The announcement, in a three-minute video, comes on the four-year anniversary of when Biden declared for the White House in 2019, promising to heal the \u201csoul of the nation\u201d amid the turbulent presidency of Donald Trump \u2014 a goal that has remained elusive.<\/p>\n
\u201cI said we are in a battle for the soul of America, and we still are,\u201d Biden said. \u201cThe question we are facing is whether in the years ahead we have more freedom or less freedom. More rights or fewer.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the question of seeking reelection has been a given for most modern presidents, that\u2019s not always been the case for Biden, as a notable swath of Democratic voters have indicated they would prefer he not run, in part because of his age \u2014 concerns Biden has called \u201ctotally legitimate\u201d but ones he did not address head-on in the launch video.<\/p>\n
Yet few things have unified Democratic voters like the prospect of Trump returning to power. And Biden\u2019s political standing within his party stabilized after Democrats notched a stronger-than-expected performance in last year\u2019s midterm elections, as the president set out to run again on the same themes that buoyed his party last fall, particularly on preserving access to abortion.<\/p>\n
\u201cFreedom. Personal freedom is fundamental to who we are as Americans. There\u2019s nothing more important. Nothing more sacred,\u201d Biden said in the launch video, which painted the Republican Party as extremists trying to roll back access to abortion, cut Social Security, limit voting rights and ban books they disagree with. \u201cAround the country, MAGA extremists are lining up to take those bedrock freedoms away.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not a time to be complacent,\u201d Biden added. \u201cThat\u2019s why I\u2019m running for reelection.\u201d<\/p>\n
As the contours of the campaign begin to take shape, Biden plans to campaign on his record. He spent his first two years as president combating the coronavirus pandemic and pushing through major bills such as the bipartisan infrastructure package and legislation to promote high-tech manufacturing and climate measures. With Republicans now in control of the House, Biden has shifted his focus to implementing those massive laws and making sure voters credit him for the improvements, while sharpening the contrast with the GOP ahead of an expected showdown over raising the nation\u2019s borrowing limit that could have debilitating consequences for the country\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n
But the president also has multiple policy goals and unmet promises from his first campaign that he\u2019s pitching voters on giving him another chance to fulfill.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s finish this job. I know we can,\u201d Biden said in the video, repeating a mantra he said a dozen times during his State of the Union address in February, listing everything from passing a ban on assault-style weapons and lowering the cost of prescription drugs to codifying a national right to abortion after the Supreme Court\u2019s ruling last year overturning Roe v. Wade.<\/p>\n
Buoyed by the midterm results, Biden plans to continue to cast all Republicans as embracing what he calls \u201cultra-MAGA\u201d politics \u2014 a reference to Trump\u2019s \u201cMake America Great Again\u201d slogan \u2014 regardless of whether his predecessor ends up on the 2024 ballot. He\u2019s spent the last several months road-testing campaign themes, including painting Republicans as fighting for tax cuts for businesses and the wealthy while trying to cut social safety net benefits relied on by everyday Americans and roll back access to abortion services.<\/p>\n
Biden, speaking over brief video clips and photographs of key moments in his presidency, snapshots of diverse Americans and flashes of his outspoken Republican foes, including Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, exhorted supporters that \u201cthis is our moment\u201d to \u201cdefend democracy. Stand up for our personal freedoms. Stand up for the right to vote and our civil rights.\u201d<\/p>\n
Biden also plans to point to his work over the past two years shoring up American alliances, leading a global coalition to support Ukraine\u2019s defenses against Russia\u2019s invasion and returning the US to the Paris climate accord. But public support in the US for Ukraine has softened in recent months, and some voters question the tens of billions of dollars in military and economic assistance flowing to Kyiv.<\/p>\n
The president faces lingering criticism over his administration\u2019s chaotic 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan after nearly 20 years of war, which undercut the image of competence he aimed to portray to the world, and he finds himself the target of GOP attacks over his immigration and economic policies.<\/p>\n
As a candidate in 2020, Biden pitched voters on his familiarity with the halls of power in Washington and his relationships around the world as he promised to return a sense of normalcy to the country amid Trump\u2019s tumultuous presidency and the deadly COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n
But even back then, Biden was acutely aware of voters\u2019 concerns about his age.<\/p>\n
\u201cLook, I view myself as a bridge, not as anything else,\u201d Biden said in March 2020, as he campaigned in Michigan with younger Democrats, including now-Vice President Kamala Harris, Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. \u201cThere\u2019s an entire generation of leaders you saw stand behind me. They are the future of this country.\u201d<\/p>\n
Three years later, the president now 80, Biden allies say his time in office has demonstrated that he saw himself as more of a transformational than a transitional leader.<\/p>\n
Still, many Democrats would prefer that Biden didn\u2019t run again. A recent poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows just 47 percent of Democrats say they want him to seek a second term, up from 37 percent in February. And Biden\u2019s verbal \u2014 and occasional physical \u2014 stumbles have become fodder among the GOP, which has sought to cast him as unfit for office.<\/p>\n
Biden, on multiple occasions, has brushed back concerns about his age, saying simply, \u201cWatch me.\u201d<\/p>\n
During a routine physical in February, his physician, Dr. Kevin O\u2019Connor, declared him \u201chealthy, vigorous\u201d and \u201cfit\u201d to handle his White House responsibilities.<\/p>\n
Aides acknowledge that while some in his party might prefer an alternative to Biden, there is anything but consensus within their diverse coalition on who that might be. And they insist that when Biden is compared with whomever the GOP nominates, Democrats and independents will rally around Biden.<\/p>\n
For now, the 76-year-old Trump is the favorite to emerge as the Republican nominee, creating the potential of a historic sequel to the bitterly fought 2020 campaign. But Trump faces significant hurdles of his own, including the designation of being the first former president to face criminal charges. The remaining GOP field is volatile, with DeSantis emerging as an early alternative to Trump. DeSantis\u2019 stature is also in question, however, amid questions about his readiness to campaign outside of his increasingly Republican-leaning state.<\/p>\n
To prevail again, Biden will need to revive the alliance of young voters and Black voters \u2014 particularly women \u2014 along with blue-collar Midwesterners, moderates and disaffected Republicans who helped him win in 2020. He\u2019ll have to again carry the so-called \u201cblue wall\u201d in the Upper Midwest, while protecting his position in Georgia and Arizona, longtime GOP strongholds that he narrowly won in his last campaign.<\/p>\n
Biden\u2019s reelection bid comes as the nation weathers uncertain economic crosscurrents. Inflation is ticking down after hitting the highest rate in a generation, driving up the price of goods and services, but unemployment is at a 50-year low, and the economy is showing signs of resilience despite Federal Reserve interest rate hikes.<\/p>\n
Presidents typically try to delay their reelection announcements to maintain the advantages of incumbency and skate above the political fray for as long as possible while their rivals trade jabs. But the leg up offered by being in the White House can be rickety \u2014 three of the last seven presidents have lost reelection, most recently Trump in 2020.<\/p>\n
Biden\u2019s announcement is roughly consistent with the timeline followed by then-President Barack Obama, who waited until April 2011 to declare for a second term. Trump launched his reelection bid on the day he was sworn in in 2017.<\/p>\n
Biden is not expected to dramatically alter his day-to-day schedule as a candidate \u2014 at least not immediately \u2014 with aides believing his strongest political asset is showing the American people that he is governing. And if he follows the Obama playbook, he may not hold any formal campaign rallies until well into 2024. Obama didn\u2019t hold a reelection rally until May 2012.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, Biden named White House adviser Julie Ch\u00e1vez Rodr\u00edguez to serve as campaign manager and Quentin Fulks, who ran Sen. Raphael Warnock\u2019s reelection campaign in Georgia last year, to serve as principal deputy campaign manager. Reps. Lisa Blunt-Rochester, Jim Clyburn and Veronica Escobar; Sens. Chris Coons and Tammy Duckworth; entertainment mogul and Democratic mega-donor Jeffrey Katzenberg; and Whitmer will serve as campaign co-chairs.<\/p>\n
On the heels of the announcement Tuesday, Biden was set to deliver remarks to union members before hosting South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol for a state visit at the White House. He plans to meet with party donors in Washington later this week.<\/p>\n
Biden\u2019s formal go-ahead comes after months of public incredulity that the president would seek another term despite plentiful signs that he was intent on doing so.<\/p>\n
Ahead of the president\u2019s announcement, first lady Jill Biden expressed disbelief at the persistent questions about her husband\u2019s intent to run.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow many times does he have to say it for you to believe it?\u201d she told The Associated Press in late February. \u201cHe says he\u2019s not done.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden on Tuesday formally announced that he is running for reelection in 2024, asking voters to give him more time to \u201cfinish the job\u201d he began when he was sworn in to office and to set aside their concerns about extending the run of America\u2019s oldest president for another four years. Biden, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":310981,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-327373","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n