Biden launches 2024 campaign in search of villains
Sarah Westwood
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With no clear opponent on the horizon, President Joe Biden launched his reelection campaign Tuesday eyeing a loosely connected set of ideas, and not any one person, as his rival.
Biden’s three-minute launch video touched on the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, anti-abortion sentiment, Trump-aligned Republicans, and reforms to Social Security and Medicare. The president made the case that he needed another term to “finish the job,” although he made virtually no mention of the actual job he’s done so far.
BIDEN LAUNCHES 2024 PRESIDENTIAL REELECTION BID
“Biden’s frame, from now through the last day of campaigning, will be to present himself as a bulwark against what he sees as the extremes of his opposition and Trump’s toxic effect on our democracy and our politics overall,” Kevin Madden, a Republican strategist, told the Washington Examiner.
In his launch video, Biden reprised a version of talking points he has used repeatedly to demonize broad swaths of the Republican Party. Warning about “MAGA extremists,” Biden said in a voice-over that basic freedoms are under attack.
The only Republicans pictured in a montage of the threats Biden cited were Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), former President Donald Trump, and Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), the latter two being his most likely opponents.
“More than anything, Biden needs 2024 to be a choice instead of a referendum,” Madden said. “I know the Biden campaign touts his record passing legislation, but his approval ratings are still underwater, and the public still remains unhappy about the direction of the country.”
“Biden’s refrain of ‘Don’t judge me against the Almighty; judge me against the alternative’ might as well be his campaign motto,” Madden added.
Biden in his video cited threats that have little to do with Trump.
He raised alarms about what he described as GOP attempts to cut Social Security and Medicare, for example, even though Trump has explicitly advocated against such reforms.
In fact, Trump argued that Republicans should under no circumstances “cut a single penny from Medicare or Social Security.”
The former president’s position on Social Security has angered conservatives so much that the influential Club for Growth accused Trump of sharing it with Biden.
The photograph of Greene that Biden selected for his campaign video was actually taken at a moment when the firebrand congresswoman was shouting down Biden as a liar for claiming during his State of the Union address that Republicans wanted to go after Social Security and Medicare.
And Trump has not backed any of the most restrictive GOP measures on abortion.
In fact, Trump has taken heat from some anti-abortion groups for declining to outline a conservative position on abortion, instead advocating the states to make decisions.
Still, Democrats have found success in lumping most Republicans in with Trump’s increasingly unpopular brand.
“President Biden is calling out extremist Republicans as an entity,” Tracy Sefl, a Democratic strategist, told the Washington Examiner. “He doesn’t need to name names. Voters know.”
Sefl said Biden would work to tout what his administration has accomplished despite facing virtually unanimous Republican opposition.
“Extremist Republicans: responsible for the erosion of women’s bodily autonomy, standing in the way of meaningful gun safety laws, weakening workers’ rights. Voters are aware of what freedoms have been taken away and what laws haven’t been passed due to right-wing judges serving lifetime appointments or extremist Republican leaders in Congress,” she said. “The president’s reelection premise is that his administration has nonetheless achieved significant wins and made meaningful investments to improve Americans’ lives, and his second term is the critical moment to continue those gains.”
Biden’s video made little mention of the things his administration has done since he took office in 2021, however. The bipartisan infrastructure law, American Rescue Plan, Inflation Reduction Act, and student loan debt cancellation, among other things, did not warrant a mention.
The omissions could suggest Biden plans to run a campaign focused on contrasting himself favorably to Trump rather than building himself up individually.
Scott Jennings, a veteran Republican strategist, noted that polls show a sizable majority of voters would prefer Biden not seek a second term.
“He’s not popular. His policies aren’t popular, and people don’t want him to run again,” Jennings told the Washington Examiner. “There’s absolutely nothing hopeful or forward-looking about what he’s doing.”
Jennings said Biden appears to be building the rationale for his reelection around Trump despite the uncertainty surrounding Trump’s future.
“What happens if any other Republican gets the nomination? Their entire strategy is based upon Donald Trump getting the nomination,” he said. “Their entire construct depends upon the Republican Party nominating the one person in this field who is guaranteed to get fewer votes than Joe Biden.”
Voters have signaled they also don’t want to see Trump on the general election stage, either, which likely factors into Biden’s focus on him as the mascot for the things he says he’s against — even if Trump doesn’t actually hold those positions.
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Sixty percent of the country said they don’t want to see Trump running for president again, according to the NBC News poll Jennings cited.
“The American people would rather pick two people out of the Peoria phone book than have these two people run against each other,” Jennings said.