Biden tries to score points with voters to prepare for rematch with Trump

President Biden is trying to speed up his appeal to voters, after polls showed him lagging Trump in the race for the White House.

At a recent event, Adrianne Shropshire, executive director of BlackPAC, a political organization representing the African-American community, discussed how President Joe Biden is leading the country and his achievements since taking office in 2021.

Many conference attendees expressed surprise at the legislation that Mr. Biden has pushed through, as well as how the US economy has improved during his term.

“Some people say they don’t know anything about all this. Why are the Democrats so bad at messaging?” Shropshire said. “That’s a pretty widely shared view.”

This is considered the reason why President Biden's approval rating has remained low in the past few months, while Donald Trump, his opponent in the rematch in November, has continuously appeared at many rallies and called on supporters to "make America great again".

The two candidates will face each other in the race for the White House this year. This is the first rematch between a sitting and a former US president since 1892.

But unlike in 2020, when he was favored over his opponent throughout the entire campaign, Mr. Biden has a more difficult path this time. According to experts, his chances of re-election do not exceed 50% and the President's supporters should accept the fact that the door for Trump to regain the White House is wide open.

US President Joe Biden campaigned in Las Vegas, Nevada, on February 5. Photo: AFP

Polls from major newspapers and news organizations in January and February, when the Democratic and Republican primaries began, showed Mr. Trump leading Mr. Biden by 2 to 4 percentage points, a testament to how difficult it was for the incumbent president to launch his campaign.

Concerns about Biden’s age, frustration with his handling of the economy and his staunch support for Israel’s offensive in Gaza are said to be the main reasons why his coalition appears smaller and less enthusiastic than in 2020.

Mr Biden, now 81 and the oldest sitting US president, has long faced concerns about his age.

Last month, Robert Hur, the special prosecutor in charge of Mr Biden’s mishandling of classified documents, called the current US President a “nice old man with a bad memory”. A recent New York Times/Siena College poll found that 73% of voters believe he is too old to run the White House effectively.

"I think what he needs is to take a youth pill and turn 40 years younger," Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders, 82, joked about President Biden's age. "And if he has that pill, hopefully he'll share it with me."

Even if he was joking, Senator Sanders’s comments show that age is clearly something Democrats are concerned about. As concerns grow, some Democrats have pushed President Biden to take concrete steps to demonstrate that he is up to the job.

Senator Sanders remained confident, saying he expected President Biden to run a "robust campaign" to showcase his accomplishments and better explain his agenda for a second term to the public.

In addition to his age, another major challenge for President Biden is the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict. The situation in Gaza has alienated many key parts of President Biden’s 2020 winning coalition, including young voters, progressives and some voters of color.

His campaign lost 13% of voters in the Michigan primary who chose “no candidate.” But that number was much higher in the Minnesota primary on Super Tuesday, with 19%.

Former US President Donald Trump in Rock Hill, South Carolina, on February 23. Photo: AFP

“President Biden is showing weakness in this conflict because he cannot uphold what we have long claimed are the values ​​that America stands for,” said Rep. Pramila Jayapal, leader of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. “I have told the White House directly that we could actually lose the election to Donald Trump because of this conflict.”

Ms. Jayapal and other Democrats say every day the conflict continues is another day their party will have to strain to deliver a message about how President Biden is superior to his opponent, because angry voters won’t listen to him for anything.

To regain support, President Biden must do more than call for a ceasefire and end unconditional military aid to Israel, according to some progressive Democrats.

President Biden appears to have recognized this and is working to increase pressure on Israel to achieve a ceasefire and increase humanitarian aid to Gaza.

During his State of the Union address last week, he announced plans for the U.S. military to build temporary docks on the Gaza coast to deliver humanitarian aid to the region. His announcement received positive reviews from many experts and a favorable response from the American public.

The White House is also trying to boost Biden’s economic credentials. Current U.S. economic indicators are mostly pointing in the same direction. Inflation is down, consumer confidence is up, and many Americans are generally happy with their economic situation.

But many Americans are not convinced that President Biden is the one to make these positive changes. A New York Times poll in early March found that just 19% of respondents said the economy was better than it was four years ago, when Trump was in office. Sixty-five percent said it was worse. A year ago, 23% said the economy was better, 40% said it was worse, and 36% said it was the same.

“There’s a lag here,” said New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, an ally of President Biden. “I think it’s just a matter of time before the president gets the credit he deserves.”

After much effort by Mr. Biden and the Democrats, that gap has gradually narrowed. According to a poll conducted by Reuters/Ipsos from March 7 to 13, Mr. Biden’s support rate was 39%, compared to 38% for former President Trump. Mr. Biden also led Mr. Trump by one percentage point in a poll conducted by Civiqs/Daily Kos from March 9 to 12.

President Biden still has nearly eight months to turn things around, and history shows that Democrats have won a series of elections in recent years by focusing their campaigns on the issue of abortion rights.

“It's clear that this is an emotional election, not a logical election,” said Tory Gavito, president of Way to Win, a libertarian advocacy group.

Vu Hoang (According to CNN, AFP, Reuters )

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