President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris‘s appearances in Pennsylvania, a state that helped clinch them the 2020 election, is just one more indication the pair is inching closer to announcing a 2024 reelection campaign.
After Democrats outperformed expectations in the 2022 midterm elections, Biden is unlikely to face a primary challenger next year. Yet the president is poised to encounter Democratic protesters while he is in Philadelphia who not only oppose his candidacy but also his plan to upend the 2024 calendar and promote South Carolina, the state that won him the nomination.
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Biden and the White House have reiterated that it is the president’s intention to seek reelection next year, with Biden telling reporters during his post-midterm elections press conference he expected to announce his 2024 decision “early” in 2023.
Biden is “giving off all appearances” that he is preparing to run for reelection, “whether or not he has definitively made up his mind to,” according to Democratic strategist Christopher Hahn.
“If Biden chooses to run, he will be the Democratic nominee for president. Full stop,” Hahn told the Washington Examiner.
Biden’s only “major obstacle” is his 80 years of age, but “that’s already baked into the cake,” the former Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) aide and Aggressive Progressive podcast host added. If he secures a second term, the president, the oldest commander in chief, will be 82.
“If the economy keeps moving in the right direction and [former President Donald Trump] stays in the race, Biden should be considered the favorite to win in 2024,” he said.
Biden and Harris are speculated to be set to announce their reelection bid after the president delivers his State of the Union address next week. The launch could coincide with a crest of positive economic news after last summer’s peak annual inflation rate of 9.5% but before a possible recession later this year. It could, too, counter announcements from Republican candidates, including former Gov. Nikki Haley (R-SC).
Biden and Harris’s rare appearances on the road together were timed with the Democratic National Committee‘s annual winter meeting, the pair speaking at two events.
“Let me ask you a simple question: Are you with me?” he asked the first reception, the room erupting into chants of “Four more years!”
“America is back,” the president said, “and we’re leading the world again.”
DNC members are in Philadelphia, in part, to vote on Biden’s proposal to bring forward South Carolina‘s primary to Feb. 3, 2024, followed by Nevada and New Hampshire on Feb. 6, Georgia on Feb. 13, and Michigan on Feb. 27 to better reflect the Democratic Party’s diversity. The measure is expected to be passed on Saturday, despite a New Hampshire state law that stipulates it be first, creating the potential for a dissident primary and an embarrassment for the president, though the DNC can intervene and penalize the delegates. DNC members contend the order can be reevaluated before 2028.
“I think the proposal from the president is a strong indication of how he feels about the most loyal and dedicated voting bloc in a generation, black voters, by putting South Carolina first,” South Carolina-based Democratic strategist Antjuan Seawright said.
Simultaneously, groups such as progressive organization Roots Action are enraged, arguing Biden is “wielding” the DNC’s power to “crush” the prospect of a primary opponent.
“There’s no doubt the DNC will do the president’s bidding, but it’s not good politics,” Roots Action tweeted before planned protests.
President Biden is wielding the Democratic National Committee’s power to crush a potential primary challenge in 2024. There’s no doubt the DNC will do the president’s bidding but it’s not good politics.
Read @normansolomon in @Salon: https://t.co/sxC5QOzhuJ
— RootsAction (@Roots_Action) February 3, 2023
Former California Democratic Party adviser Bob Mulholland downplayed Biden and Harris’s appearances in Philadelphia, quipping residents were likely preoccupied with next week’s Super Bowl. Biden and Harris prevailed in Pennsylvania by 1 percentage point, or 81,000, votes over Trump and his vice president, Mike Pence.
“If the Eagles win the Super Bowl and President Biden has the team in the White House and serves cheesesteaks and Tastykakes for dessert, then the heart of the Democrat vote of PA will give Biden a bigger margin in the [2024] general [election] than he received in 2020,” the former DNC member said of Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia counties.
Biden’s trip to Pennsylvania, en route to spend the weekend in Delaware, was his third last week to underscore the $550 billion 2021 bipartisan infrastructure bill. His other travel was to the blue states of Maryland and New York, although he spoke at a New York City fundraiser as well. Biden’s State of the Union speech will precede visits to the battleground states of Florida and Wisconsin, while Harris is being dispatched to Georgia and Minnesota.
During remarks at Philadelphia’s Belmont Water Treatment Plant, in which Biden announced $500 million in city water upgrades and lead service removal, the president repeated a prospective reelection message that could connect his bipartisan and partisan policy achievements with promising economic data.
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“We’re in one of those inflection points in world history where things are going to change dramatically over the next couple of years,” he said. “What we do over the next couple of years [is] going to determine the next four or five years.”
