Fox News’s Chris Wallace argued that Joe Biden’s decision to build a campaign solely on electability could fail if he continues to lose in early voting states.
Biden, 77, announced on Tuesday that he would not stick around New Hampshire for his final campaign stop in the state because he was heading to South Carolina for a launch party, a move many saw as a concession before most votes in New Hampshire’s Tuesday primary were cast. After a poor turnout in Iowa last week, Wallace questioned Biden’s strategy.
“He spent a lot of time, a lot of money in Iowa. He spent a fair amount of time [in New Hampshire]. Can he go on if he finishes fourth or fifth here? Yes,” he said. “Is he really, seriously wounded? Yes.”
Wallace added that Biden’s campaign has been running on a promise of electability against President Trump but said that strategy could blow up in his face if he can’t prove it by winning the early elections.
“It was so interesting in Iowa. He ran an ad I’ve never seen before, which was all about electability. Literally polls in this ad showing that he was beating Trump in the key swing states like Michigan and Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. And then, he finishes fourth in Iowa,” Wallace said.
He continued, “Let’s say he finishes fourth or fifth here. That puts a huge hole in the electability argument. And he’s not offering anything else. He’s not offering a bold new prescription plan like Sanders, a whole kind of almost cultural thing like Buttigieg about a generational change and unity and inclusion.”
“He’s pushing one thing: ‘I can get more votes.’ If he’s not getting more votes, what’s he got?” Wallace asked.
Biden trailed Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders for the first time in a nationwide poll released by Morning Consult on Tuesday.
