President Joe Biden is reaching into the past to shore up support for his reelection bid.
The Biden campaign is planning a fundraiser with former President Barack Obama, who served as commander in chief from 2009 through early 2017, and former President Bill Clinton, who was first elected to office more than 30 years ago.
Yet Biden, 81, ran four years ago on a promise to be “a bridge” to the next generation of Democratic leaders, a transition that has yet to take place. His continued presence in the spotlight has invited questions as to the fitness of the party’s younger generation.
While both Clinton, 77, and Obama, 62, remain beloved figures within the party, some question whether Democrats would do well to look forward rather than back. Biden struggles to connect with younger voters, who may be unimpressed with figures from previous decades, and minority voters who have been trending toward the GOP in recent election cycles.
Clinton and Obama’s influence still circulates in the form of whispers and even polls about former first lady Michelle Obama running for the White House. A January poll of Democratic voters from the Center Square had Michelle Obama winning a plurality of respondents. Biden came in second.
Michelle Obama has said repeatedly she isn’t interested in the job.
Another poll, from Harvard/Harris, revealed a scattershot of preferences if Biden were off the ballot, with 27% of respondents selecting “unsure,” Vice President Kamala Harris in second at 15%, “someone else” at 13%, 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton drawing 8% support, and everyone else at 7% or below.
Harris has faced her own questions about electability and whether she can connect with voters. Her approval rating sits at 35.5%, per the RealClearPolitics average, a historically low figure that is four points below that of her boss. She is also tasked with reaching a wide swath of voters and could use help from state-level Democratic surrogates.
Other figures have drawn at least some buzz about a future presidential campaign, mostly notably Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA). But Newsom has built so much of a national profile that he often draws questions about when his own presidential campaign will start, which could undermine the Biden campaign rather than boost it.
Beyond Harris and Newsom are a slew of governors who show promise but have not yet broken out on the national stage, such as Govs. Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI), Andy Beshear (D-KY), and Wes Moore (D-MD).
At the other end of the spectrum are Democratic superstars of decades gone, such as Clinton and Obama, who can still electrify a crowd but who represent the past rather than the future.
Biden is trailing his likely GOP rival, former President Donald Trump, 46.6% to 44.8%, per the RealClearPolitics polling average, and his party is working to overcome an enthusiasm gap among base voters between the two.
The Biden campaign insists it’s doing just as well or even better than Clinton in 1996 or Obama in 2012. For example, it boasted in January of raising over $97 million in the fourth quarter of 2023, with $117 million in cash on hand, more than Obama raised at the end of 2011.
“I remember when [Obama campaign manager Jim Messina] told me to shoot for $100 million in Q4 of 2011,” Biden finance chairman Rufus Gifford posted on X. “Even the much-praised Obama fundraising machine couldn’t get even close and we scratched and clawed our way to $68 million as I was refreshing our totals on New Year’s Eve.”
Yet the problematic polling and questions about Biden’s age as he seeks to remain in office until age 86 have critics calling the three-president fundraiser a risky move.
“We know what they’re dealing with here, which is a serious enthusiasm gap,” GOP strategist Jim Merrill said in a Fox News interview. “This is a calculated risk putting Joe Biden, who, anytime he’s on stage is a potential liability for his own reelection, up with two of the most influential spokespeople for the Democratic Party over the last 25 years. So it certainly could blow up in their face.”
The fundraiser also folds into questions about the depth of the Democratic bench beyond Biden, his presidential predecessors, and strong campaign surrogate Harris.
The Biden/Obama/Clinton fundraiser hasn’t been formally announced but is likely to take place in March or April. Organizers hope it will generate both cash and headlines, with older voters excited to see the three men in the same room.
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Party leaders insist that each will help out in their own way as Biden makes the last run of his 50-year political career.
“The Obamas drum up incredible excitement still, but the surrogate tapped really depends on the audience they’re speaking to,” Tom Cochran, a Democratic strategist and a partner at 720 Strategies, previously told the Washington Examiner. “Whitmer, Moore, Beshear, Newsom are all excellent in the right setting. Most important is stressing that this is a team effort to keep the White House for the Democrats.”
