As the final-fundraising quarter deadline at the end of December draws nearer, Biden is garnering the support of as many donors as possible this month through attending and speaking at fundraising events. The latest one was on Tuesday (12/5), where he fundraised in Massachusetts to an audience of Democrat donors. Most notably, he made comments regarding Trump, such as “We need every American who loves democracy to join us in 2024 to make sure that we make our democracy stronger, not weaker and jeopardized,”---implying that Trump winning would result in the latter part of the comparison, and that America “cannot let him win”.
- David Tabor
Sources:
https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/01/politics/biden-fundraising-sprint-december/index.html
https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/05/politics/biden-fundraising-sprint/index.html
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/biden-argues-trump-existential-threat-america-trump-point/story?id=105401847
10 comments:
Frankly, it's been really weird seeing Biden's gaffes. I can't remember all of them all the top of my head but one example was him saying that Putin couldn't remain in power and then his aides downplaying and backtracking that by saying Biden just meant Putin shouldn't be trying to exert power over Ukraine.
https://www.npr.org/2022/03/26/1089014039/biden-says-of-putin-for-gods-sake-this-man-cannot-remain-in-power
There was also this clip of Biden calling Xi Jinping a dictator and Antony Blinken (secretary of state) immediately wincing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTys4B9qBW8
Of course, maybe Blinken just got something in his eye but the incident does feel like a microcosm of Biden's inconsistency.
Also the idea that he's the only person that can beat Trump is pretty dubious with his numbers declining among young people AND minorities (typically reliable Democrat voters).
https://www.npr.org/2022/05/01/1095466871/biden-polls-democrats-gen-z-midterms
https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/27/politics/democrats-biden-black-voters-midterms/index.html
Sure, he does have a lot of experience but he's been mired in a bunch of scandals (plagiarism scandal that brought down a presidential campaign he attempted in the 90s, classified documents being found in his home multiple times, etc.). https://time.com/5636715/biden-1988-presidential-campaign/
While not necessarily as bad as Trump's scandals, Biden doesn't have the same cult of personality to insulate him from the political backlash.
Simply put, man's pretty unpopular and should probably let some fresh people take charge. Even VP Harris (who is also VERY unpopular) might perform better as a candidate:
https://www.newsweek.com/kamala-harris-outperforms-joe-biden-3-critical-swing-states-poll-1841005
I agree with Vishal that Biden's personality is not as popular and stimulating for the public as that of Trump. I also agree that his re-electability is dubious. While his term was pretty successful with bipartisan legislation for infrastructure, gun safety, and inflation reduction, I haven't heard of it covered that much in the media and I feel like he doesn't do enough to distinguish himself from Trump as a politically competition and experienced politician. His presidency, as Vishal says, was filled too with inconsistency and embarrassing moments, like times he misspeaks or missteps. I have heard a lot of people doubt his ability to be president, and it does seem like he is only running because the Democrats have no better candidate to beat Trump.
I'm disappointed that he decided to run again instead of advocating for a rising Democrat that may portray the party in a more favorable light. How come the American political system cannot offer a better candidate? Hopefully, at least, if Biden is able to vigorously campaign, as it is such an intense competition, it can also dispel people's doubts that he is capable to govern for a second term.
https://www.npr.org/2023/01/01/1143149435/despite-infighting-its-been-a-surprisingly-productive-2-years-for-democrats
It was a bit confusing when he said "If Trump wasn't running, I'm not sure I'd be running." As you mentioned, he's made seemingly contradictory statements about this before.
I think you make a fair critique when you ask whether Biden genuinely wants to be re-elected on his own merits, not just to defeat Trump. It does raise questions about his motivation. At the same time, I can see how positioning himself as the anti-Trump could be an effective fundraising and campaign strategy by uniting Democrats against a common opponent.
You made a great point about the importance of TV advertising for presidential campaigns. The sheer amount of money being raised and spent on ads shows how crucial it is for reaching voters. And you're right that ads can influence voters emotionally despite not always being the most substantive.
I agree with many of the points already articulated under this post. Biden, in most of his most popular clips and speeches, does not seem like a clear-headed and articulate person that should be running this country. In fact, he appears quite senile and it's hard to imagine him having intense discussions and debates with foreign leaders. His gaffes and mistakes seem to be more than the stuttering problem that he has had most of his political career. Further, when Biden provides blatantly wrong or contradictory statements and has to retract them later, it makes it seem like he is not in control of his own political agenda and optics. It makes him look like a puppet, and a bad one at that.
I am extremely scared of the possibility of a televised Biden-Trump presidential debate. Although Trump isn't the most experienced and strategic debater and he is still pretty close to Biden's age, in recent videos he still seems quite quick-witted and well-spoken. There's a good chance he would embarrass Biden if it ever came to a presidential debate on live television.
If you asked me, I wouldn't be able to tell you what Biden's campaign and policy goals are. His policies and ideas seem applicable to the democratic party in general, but it doesn't feel like his campaign has any true direction or momentum. Maybe I haven't looked hard enough at his speeches/advertisements, but it's concerning that he doesn't have any central policy or core idea he is running on. For almost any successful presidential candidate in the last few decades (except for Biden), it's easy to point to their core idea that mobilized voters and independent support. Trump had economic goals that excited the Rust belt and a pledge to "drain the swamp of corruption," Obama had ambitious Healthcare goals, and Bush had "compassionate conservatism" and less interventionist foreign policies. But at this point, it's hard to discern what Biden is really striving for, and with every gaffe and mistake, his appeal as a presidential candidate becomes weaker and weaker.
Building on the concerns brought up by other commentators, Biden himself actually recently said that he is not the only Democrat that could defeat Trump, that "Probably 50 of them [could]. I'm not the only one who could defeat him. But I will defeat him." This seems to fly in the face of his re-election campaign, that he is the best one to beat Trump. This, in addition to strong evidence from polls showing that most Democrats would rather have someone else as the nominee really makes one question why Biden is still staying in the race. However, at this point in the race, it's almost definitely too late for others to jump in, as we learned in class about the length of American presidential campaigns. Additionally, doing so might reflect pretty bad on the candidate, especially if they want to stay in the party's favor and maximize their chances for future elections (Like Governor Newsom?). Anyways, at least it's promising to hear how much money Biden has raised, since that is definitely a crucial part of running a successful campaign.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/06/us/politics/biden-trump-democrats-election.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
I think Biden's comment that "If Trump wasn't running, I'm not sure I'd be running" is meant to be a response to many people's expectations that he was going to be a one-term president whose purpose was just to defeat Trump. He probably expected --- or at least wanted to project the expectation --- that after one term, there would be fresh faces from both parties, and he would not run for reelection. Given that that hasn't happened, I think he's just trying to run another "vote for me so I can defeat Trump" campaign. Maybe that's just a strategy to rally the Democrats behind him so he can keep the presidency for another four years, or maybe he actually thinks he's the best shot at defeating Trump. Which might be true. I would like a younger moderate candidate from the Democratic party with lots of experience, but I can't think of one.
As what has been previously mentioned in the comment section, I think that a better idea for the political party would be to have someone up and coming along with Biden's support. There are more than just a couple reasons as to why he is so unpopular among the general population. With what he was saying about how he might not have ran if Trump wasn't running, I feel as though it lowers his credibility. I found the remark to kind of show how Biden feels as though he needs to run and doesn't choose to run on his own volition. But at the end of the day, with the fundraising along with past money already raised, Biden can reach out to a larger audience which will most likely be very beneficial towards his votes.
While this could be perceived as a controversial comment, I interpreted this mostly how the blog articulated a Biden supporter might interpret the quote. Not to say that I particularly agree with Biden and his presidency, but I am even more fearful of re-electing Trump who was impeached twice and was on trial for fraud. Having accumulated quite the number of crimes, I don't think that Trump particularly fits the model of a morally right president to run the US. Furthermore, like Rachel said, Biden has a good chance of beating Trump, especially because it is late for others to join the race and because both Biden and Trump are incumbents. In terms of protecting the country from a potentially corrupt presidency full of more lies and crimes, Biden has access to resources and connections.
I believe that one of the main reasons Biden is running for another term is because of the threat that Trump poses to our nation. The reason for the comment saying he wouldn't run again if Trump ran is probably because he's one of the few Democrates who already has the platform and the votes to run against him. While him supporting another younger Democratic candidate would probably help, I don't think they would be able to rally enough support to win the election. This is a personal belief but honestly I think that his age helps his cause more than is a limiting factor in his ability to run the nation. Yes, he's old, but because of that he could be doing so many other things right now than running for president. He's trying to create a world that he knows he's not going to live in which I think is way more trustworthy than someone like Trump who has a history of being selfish and egotistical.
I believe Biden's personality as well as his physical shape as president generally make him unpopular to many Americans. Not only does he lack the energy and passion that many presidents have had, his gaffes also make him an easy target of criticism, with many stating that he is unfit of the presidency due to his age. His old age also serves as a symbol of the political establishment- old people who have been in power for very long and are generally out of touch with the struggles of the general people of the US. Most people now would rather give a new, upcoming politician a chance. In some cases, it doesn't even have to be a politician. Trump had no policy experience and won the presidency and Vivek Ramaswamy, who like Trump doesn't have any political experience, is quite a popular candidate in the GOP race at the moment.
I really hope that Trump doesn't win, but he is currently winning in the polls even while facing multiple indictments. Despite the crookedness and clear corruption within his administration and his awful character, it seems that the American public is blind to Trump's actions, and this is quite a scary reality. I believe Biden is not a good candidate to run against him and should, Like Carole stated, let a new, up-and-coming democrat have a chance at the presidency.
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