Wes Moore, in working to prevent Biden’s fall, is helping his own rise
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Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley reacted in a hurry less than 48 hours after the Democrats were thrown into panic by President Biden’s stop-start debate performance. Wes Moore found himself in a difficult situation.
Moore was floated by party leaders and pundits as a potential Biden replacement. Moore, who is a rising star in the Democratic Party and one of its most persuasive speakers, then had to decide which message to deliver to a banquet room full of Black activists anxious about the outcome of this crucial swing state.
The nation’s lone Black Governor — and the youngest Democrat ever to lead a state — chose loyality, selling 81 year-old Biden for the future.
A few days later, Moore chose to be loyal again when he stood before the White House. He told reporters that “the president has always been on our side.” We’re also going to have his support.
Moore was steadfast on Monday. He joined Biden in a conference call with the National Finance Committee of the campaign to reassure donors.
Moore said, “I’m thankful for him and his leadership because I have seen it first-hand,” according to an excerpt from a Biden-Harris Campaign transcript. When the odds are against him, he is able to rise above them. Joe Biden told us that he was all-in on this election and I told him Maryland was all-in.
Moore was one of the first and most vocal surrogates to take the lead in defending the Democratic ticket when questions about President Biden’s mental acuity threatened the Democratic ticket.
Moore has pledged to “go anywhere and everywhere” in order to support a Biden presidency and has given over two dozen interviews since the debate. Moore has volunteered to be both a “full-throated” advocate of Biden remaining in the race, and an envoy for the disaffected Black votes crucial to a Democratic victory.
Moore, 45, told The Washington Post in an interview that he does not practice disloyalty. “The president is the leader of our nation, and he is a wonderful partner for me.”
Moore, a Rhodes Scholar and Army Veteran raised by an immigrant single mother, has only 18 months of experience as a politician and his own moonshot policies goals.
He needs federal help to keep his promises, which require federal money. These include ending child poverty, providing 100 percent clean energy, and building a multi-billion dollar transit line in Baltimore in order to fight generations of disinvestment.
In February, Biden hailed Moore, who was also an investment banker and nonprofit leader, as a rising star during a Black History Month event at the White House. He told the crowd, “Watch this guy.”
Moore, who has returned that affection to Biden since the debate is now a test to see if he can keep his promise of being a “bridge”, to the next generation Democratic leaders.
Moore told The Post his Oval Office encounter with Vice President Harris and Biden had sufficiently calmed the anxiety he felt while watching the debate.
He said, “I had serious concerns.” “People’s worries should not be undervalued. You saw the opposite of the president’s debate. The fact that Donald Trump believes he had an excellent debate should make people frightened.
Moore privately told his aides that it was time for governors to “mount-up” and support Biden. The president kept every promise made to Moore, including the crucial assistance required to reopen Baltimore’s Port after a container vessel tipped the Francis Scott Key Bridge in the channel.
Moore told his chief staff that after watching the President talk and interact, “He needs us and I think he’ll be able to do it.”
Moore revealed publicly that Biden and the governors discussed their concerns in a very open way. When you love someone you will tell the truth.
Moore is at a crucial moment in his career, one which could determine his prominence within the Democratic Party, and possibly afford him an opportunity to play a part in the Democratic National Convention. This convention has been the launch pad for other notable figures including the former president Barack Obama, in 2004.
Moore, who is a well-known speaker and a motivator for the Democratic Party, will continue to spend the summer campaigning in Wisconsin. He will also connect with Black voters.
Moore was waiting to address the Kenosha Black Coalition when the local leader who introduced him spun his many titles – a father and entrepreneur, as well as a veteran.
“Most importantly, he looks just like us,” Alderman Kenny Harper told the crowd, which erupted in applause.
Moore not only recited the talking points of Biden’s advisers – insulin costs are capped at 35 dollars, Black wealth is up 60 percent – but also his own. He argued that a Democratic president was crucial to his dreams of destroying systems that hold Black families back.
Moore stated, “I’m not from a family of politicians.” Moore said, “I had convince my family members to vote for me. It’s not that my family or I aren’t cool – we are cool – it’s just because I had to convince my family to vote.
Anthony Davis, 70 years old, a retired Chrysler employee from Kenosha county, said, “Say that again, brother” from behind.
Davis later said, as his mother stood in line to take a picture with Moore: “We need someone we can relate too. A person of color.” “Other People, They Come to Speak to You, And Sometimes You Don’t Hear What They’re Saying.”
“Everything is an issue of policy”
Moore’s Wisconsin visit was his most high-profile surrogacy attempt yet. Moore was sent to assist the Biden campaign in deploying its strategy to convince Black leaders to encourage more Black Americans to vote in 2024. Polls show that significantly less Black Americans are planning to vote in 2024 compared to 2020.
A Washington Post-Schar School survey of swing-states voters in six states including Wisconsin found that nearly three out of ten Black registered voters said they would “definitely” or “probably” vote Trump. Even a slight shift in the Black vote in Wisconsin can determine the outcome in a state that is often decided by just a few votes. Trump won in 2016, and Biden in 2019.
Moore’s skills as a motivational speaker and his instant credibility are perfect for the task of empowering Black activists.
Ben Wikler, Wisconsin Democratic Party chairman, said Moore’s ability to speak to people from any community and his skills in speaking to them set him apart from the other surrogates.
Wikler stated that “the most dangerous thing to a democracy is the feeling of helplessness.” “And Gov. Moore’s message that voters have immense power and opportunity to make a change… that message is deeply resonated with many people.