Elections 2024

Sounding the Alarm: High-Level Democrats Issue Dire Warning on Biden’s Campaign

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The Biden Reelection Campaign is in a tough stretch. A string of shaky moments from President Biden, and subsequent bad polling figures have many people worried about the viability of the oldest president to seek reelection in the country’s history. A recent survey by ABC/Ipsos shows that 86% of Americans believe Biden is too old for the job. Biden, 81, has maintained that he is vigorous and up for it. But some Democratic and political analysts seem to disagree. And not just disagree in private, they’re doing it in public.

Ezra Klein

One of these people is Ezra Klein, co-founder of Vox and now columnist for the New York Times. Ezra Klein argued that Democrats should pick the nominee at a brokered convention, in a controversial podcast titled ‘Democrats Have a Better Option Than Biden‘.

In it he goes over what he thinks Biden’s accomplishments are in his first term and why overall he has done a good job, but ultimately lands on the conclusion that although he doesn’t think Biden’s age will affect his ability to be president, it will affect his ability to campaign and win re-election.

“But here’s the thing. I can now point you to moments when he is faltering in his campaign for the presidency because his age is slowing him. This distinction between the job of the presidency and the job of running for the presidency keeps getting muddied, including by Biden himself.”

This has angered many Democrats, calling it “west wing fan fiction”, and maintaining that Biden is in a good position to be reelected in November.

David Axelrod

Another top level political strategist sounding the alarm on the Biden campaign, is David Axelrod, the Senior Strategist for the successful Obama re-election campaign of 2012. Currently working as a Senior Political Commentator at CNN, Axelrod has floated the idea of replacing him at the top of the ticket with another candidate.

“I think Biden’s been a great president…The issue for him is not political, it’s actuarial. You can see that in this poll, there’s just a lot of concern about the age issue, and that is something that I think he needs to ponder. Just do a check, and say is this the right thing to do?”

While Axelrod doesn’t go so far to say he should be replaced, this idea even being floated for an incumbent is troubling. Biden’s approval rating has sat in the high 30’s to low 40’s since the withdrawal from Afghanistan. It’s the lowest for an incumbent seeking reelection in history. In 2020, had 44k votes gone the other way in the battleground states of Wisconsin, Arizona, and Georgia, Biden would’ve lost the election. In a time where the Democratic party needs unity, it might be counterproductive for figures like Axelrod to come out and say these things. But Axelrod has been there before. He was crucial in Obama’s reelect campaign, and he doesn’t sound particularly optimistic this time around.

James Carville

James Carville, long time democrat and lead strategist for the successful 1992 Clinton Campaign, also noted that the age issue is never going to get better for Biden. “Today is the youngest you will be for the rest of your life” Carville said about age becoming more and more of a problem for the President. While Carville notes that it is always possible for Biden to be replaced, he more time passes by, the harder it will be to replace him. Carville was also very candid about Biden turning down a Super Bowl interview, saying “that’s a kind of sign that your staff, or yourself, doesn’t have much confidence in you.” He happens to be correct. It’s strange for a president to turn down an interview in front of the largest audience of the year. It’s baffling to do so in an election year.

But for all the chatter about Biden’s problems, there doesn’t look to be any plan in place to replace him. His Democratic primary challengers, Dean Philips and Marianne Williamson, haven’t made a dent. Nobody wants Kamala Harris to be the nominee. The seeming most likely replacement for Biden, Gavin Newsom, has said that he will not seek the Democratic nomination. Biden will likely remain at the top of the ticket, but at what cost? The Democrats risk handing the presidency to the person they despise the most in all of their history. And if the election were held today, we would be calling that person the 45th and 47th President of the United States.

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