Biden quietly but clearly prepares a potential reelection bid
Multiple people familiar with the matter say that President Biden and Jill Biden have met since September with senior advisors at the White House to plan a possible 2024 election campaign.
According to advisers, the meetings are part of a small group that the Democratic National Committee is planning to respond to President Biden’s request for former president Donald Trump and other potential presidential candidates who may announce their campaigns in the next months. According to people, the national party is also working on plans to reconnect with grassroots supporters of the 2020 campaign that aren’t involved in the Democratic midterm effort.
Biden, who will turn 86 in the midst of his second term, has not yet made any final decisions on another presidential campaign. However, his advisors claim that he has publicly indicated and privately that he plans to run, barring any unforeseen events. Biden also indicated that he would be more interested in running if Trump enters the race, as the former president repeatedly stated.
Anita Dunn and Mike Donilon, top White House advisers, were involved in planning discussions with Biden. Chief of Staff Ron Klain was also present. Biden’s advisers are focusing on the midterms. However, Dunn, O’Malley, Dillon and Chief of Staff Ron Klain have had conversations with veterans of past Democratic presidential reelection campaigns. These include David Plouffe’s campaign managers and Jim Messina. They also spoke to two former Clinton administration veterans, Bruce Reed, and Steve Ricchetti who now work at the White House.
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Biden is in a difficult environment as a president in his second term. He faces questions about his age, and there are calls within the Democratic Party to create a new generation. Biden, along with many Democrats, see Trump as an existential threat to America. Biden and his associates believe that he is the best placed to defeat him.
Biden’s inner circle has decided that for now they will be preparing as vigorously and as hard as possible for a run for reelection, even though there is always the chance that he might pull out at the last minute.
No prominent elected Democrat has yet to express interest in challenging Biden, though some unelected figures such as Marianne Williamson or Nina Turner have suggested a run. If Biden faces a primary challenge, party leaders have stated that they will support him and will hold a full competitive nomination process. This could include televised debates or televised debates.
Some Democratic strategists are concerned that Trump’s potential announcement soon after the midterms, followed by months of delays before Biden’s announcement, could be a significant setback for the party. Biden will not officially announce his plans until the beginning of next year, although Biden advisors claim that no timetable has been established. Biden’s team concluded that Trump was hurting his chances of winning reelection by starting his campaign shortly after he took office.
“We will have two to three months with essentially one handed tied behind our backs, because even though we are running at full speed, we still won’t have a candidate,” stated one Democratic presidential strategist. He, along more than a dozen others interviewed for this report, spoke under the condition that anonymity to discuss politically sensitive issues.
This person said, “The public indecision by the president will dominate all the conversations within the party.” “And if Trump makes a statement, the hysteria will only increase.”
Biden advisors claim that they are well-positioned for what they anticipate to be a long-drawn and difficultly fought Republican primary. Biden plans to travel to Indonesia for a Group of 20 summit and to attend a climate conference in Egypt shortly after the midterms.
One adviser to Biden stated that the president would be doing his best work, which is being president regardless. “He’s going be on the international stage as a leader doing things that are actually critical to the United States of America, and the people who live there.”
The advisor stated, “The truth is that, you’re aware, the Republican field also will start to take shape, but they will actually be running against one another.”
The Democratic National Committee will handle a large portion of the initial political effort for the 2024 cycle. It has spent over a year prepping for Biden’s reelection campaign, expanding its data operations and investing in battleground state. The DNC has always been an arm of President Barack Obama’s political operation, when a Democrat is present in the White House.
Nearly 40 employees began to monitor and prepare research books about potential GOP candidates for 2021. This included Trump, former vice president Mike Pence, Florida Governor. Ron DeSantis, South Dakota Governor. According to a Democratic strategist who is familiar with the planning, Kristi L. Noem.
Biden’s 2020 campaign donors and volunteers are the foundation of the party’s midterm effort. The party has more than 200,000 volunteers and $155,000,000 in receipts from donors. According to a memo from Sam Cornale (DNC’s executive director), the party attributes Biden’s fundraising base to Biden.
According to the strategist, the national party also has a budget in place to pay for the hiring of new spokespeople by Democrats in the states of Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada, where Republicans will begin their nomination fight. As the GOP field develops, they will be asked to speak out publicly about Republican primary candidates.
Cornale stated in a statement that “any Republican who chooses to jump into their dumpster-fire primary can count on Democratic National Committee to aggressively pursue them, define them early and remind voters what MAGA Republican Party stands up for.”
There have not been any decisions about the senior positions that would be filled in a possible Biden reelection campaign. According to people familiar with the talks, Dunn and O’Malley Daillon will likely remain at the White House. If Biden goes ahead, others could run the campaign, according to those who are familiar with the discussions.
Although no decisions have been made regarding where the campaign might be located, Democrats expect it to be in or near the “Acela” corridor. This could be in the Washington, DC area, Wilmington, Del. or Philadelphia.
In coordination with the DNC advisers to Biden, they have been trying out strategies for organizing the next campaign. This is especially important given the changes brought about by the pande.
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