Although Joe Biden has not yet declared his intent to run for reelection, there are rumors that he will soon.
News outlets are flooded with stories about Biden’s 2024 campaign strategies. One report suggests that Biden will rely heavily upon younger Democrats to present his case while he travels to stump for himself, a reverse of the basement strategy that worked in 2020.
One House Democrat, however, said that Biden should be primaried because of his age and polling which shows majorities want him to bow out. However, many of his fellow Democrats are not keen to see Biden running again.
Many elected Democrats believe that Biden is too old for another run and wish he would step down. This aligns with the sentiments of large numbers of Democrats and independents who have told pollsters for months. The Democratic Party has been suffering from the public silence surrounding the president’s situation. Someone should be a nuisance and include the voters in this decision.
“This isn’t a knock on Joe Biden. Just a wish to compete” states Representative Dean Phillips, a Minnesota Democrat, who is one of very few elected Democrats to express concern about Biden’s plans. Phillips explains the absurdity of these plans in terms of free enterprise. Phillips explained to me that if the brand with the highest favorability rating in a category was the president, there would be a lot of other established brands jumping into the category. He said, “Believe me, there are literally many in Congress who would have the same opinion.” “But they won’t f**king speak a word.”
Phillips was one of a few Congressional Democrats who expressed a desire for someone to lead the Democratic ticket in 2024. Phillips also mentioned Biden’s age in February.
Phillips said at the time, “He’s an American president of great competence & success, I admire a lot of President Biden.” Phillips stated that if he was 15-20 years younger, it would have been a simple matter to nominate him. However, considering his age, it seems absurd to us to promote competition rather than try to extinguish it.
Phillips deserves credit for acknowledging the elephant in a room rather than gaslighting people. He claimed that Biden can race circles around people younger than him. This is a ridiculous claim we have heard from Karine Jean-Pierre, White House press secretary, among others.
Biden will not be challenged by a viable primary opponent if any, but Phillips’s claims about the number of Democrats who cringe at the idea of another Biden run are true.
