The 2024 presidential contest is the subject of a great deal of news coverage, to the extent that it is easy to overlook the fact that there are still 259 days to go before the election on November 5. The two main narratives are whether pro-abortion President Joe Biden can last almost nine more months in office, and whether pro-life former President Donald Trump can weather the no-holds-barred campaign to win the election for the Democrats in the courts.
The Democratic-leaning Axios is urging Biden to enhance his performance
Biden officials see next month’s State of the Union address as a big, public reset moment — a chance to overcome or at least neutralize concerns about President Biden’s age and vitality.
Why it matters: Many top Democrats are convinced that if the election were today, Biden would lose a rematch with former President Trump. Biden’s address on March 7 is his biggest chance to shift public perceptions.
Time is of the essence, according to Mike Allen and Alex Thompson, who note that the window of opportunity is rapidly closing
Biden’s ownership of the national spotlight will be brief. Just five days after his speech, House Republicans will hold a hearing with special counsel Robert Hur, whose report cleared the president of mishandling documents but called him a “well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”
In a recent New York Times column, Ezra Klein, a prominent journalist and podcaster, argued that Democrats should persuade President Biden not to seek reelection. Klein acknowledged that this would place Vice President Kamala Harris, a pro-abortion advocate, in a prominent position. Despite her unpopularity, Klein contended that she is more capable than she is given credit for.
Former Obama administration speechwriter Jon Favreau offered a partial rebuttal to Klein’s argument. According to The Hill’s Sarah Fortinsky,
“The challenge is, we just don’t know — and will likely never know — if nominating Biden is riskier than letting Democratic activists and insiders pick a lesser-known and potentially weaker general election candidate at the convention with three months to go,” Favreau wrote on X.
Favreau noted Democrats “have some real stars who’ve won races in the toughest states,” but he added that “it’s not at all clear that they’d a) be the choice of the delegates, or b) end up stronger than Biden against Trump,” pointing to some limited polling that shows Biden outperforming other Democratic candidates in a head-to-head match-up against former President Trump.
Ultimately, Favreau concurred with Klein’s assessment
the importance of Biden recognizing voters’ concerns, rather than simply pointing to Trump’s similar fallibility or dismissing the concerns as a media construct.
“What Biden can do is take concerns about his age seriously, acknowledge that fears about his performance aren’t media creations or Democratic bedwetting, and focus single-mindedly on crisp, strong, energetic appearances, which we’ve seen he’s absolutely capable of (2023 [State of the Union], Jan 6th speeches, etc.),” Favreau said.
Finally, Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert of Business Insider posits that the potential consequences of a Biden resignation are uncertain
Even if Biden were to pass the baton to the next generation, and even if a prominent Democrat were ready to take his place — two very big “ifs” — [Political Scientist Justin] Buchler noted the current issues that exist for Biden would still be baked into the campaign of anybody who had stepped in to take his place.
“The only time that an incumbent president stepped down rather than running for reelection in the modern era was Lyndon Johnson and there is no evidence that that helped Hubert Humphrey, who eventually lost to Richard Nixon anyway,” Buchler said. “So the idea that Joe Biden stepping down would help a successor has no support in the historical data.”
Daniel Miller is responsible for nearly all of National Right to Life News' political writing.
With the election of Donald Trump to the U.S. presidency, Daniel Miller developed a deep obsession with U.S. politics that has never let go of the political scientist. Whether it's the election of Joe Biden, the midterm elections in Congress, the abortion rights debate in the Supreme Court or the mudslinging in the primaries - Daniel Miller is happy to stay up late for you.
Daniel was born and raised in New York. After living in China, working for a news agency and another stint at a major news network, he now lives in Arizona with his two daughters.
