How many times is Joe Biden going to re-launch his re-election campaign?
He tried again Tuesday with an event in Virginia. He brought along Jill and Kamala Harris.
It did not go well.
The singular focus of Biden’s campaign is abortion. He will toss in democracy in his speeches but the focus Tuesday was abortion. He wants Congress to codify Roe and take abortion away from states again. Biden made Kamala the abortion czar last year and she regularly goes to college campuses and Democrat events to talk about the issue. She kicked off her “Fight for Reproductive Freedoms” tour in battleground state of Wisconsin on Monday. Democrats rode the issue to much success in the midterm elections and they want to do it again in November with the presidential election.
Kamala’s pitch in Virginia is that a woman does not have to abandon her faith to believe abortion is an acceptable right. It’s about controlling her own body for women without government restrictions, she said. She spoke before Biden.
Kamala Harris: "One does not have to abandon their faith or deeply held beliefs" to support abortion-on-demand without limits until birth pic.twitter.com/e7h7ZRqFSO
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) January 23, 2024
It is not a dynamic message for most voters. Team Biden is trying to fire up women voters and younger voters. Joe Biden has lost the support of most demographics and it is particularly alarming that he has lost independent voters and suburban women along the way.
Will abortion rescue Joe Biden and the Democrats in November? The rally was to mark the 51st anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Biden framed the issue as one of “basic health care.” He uses scare tactics. The playbook for Democrats is to use rhetoric to scare voters into supporting Biden as they paint limits on abortion as an extreme position.
When Biden’s time to speak came, he was introduced by Amanda Zurawski, the plaintiff in a Texas lawsuit focused on women denied abortions in emergency medical situations.
“Today in America, women are being turned away from emergency rooms, forced to travel hundreds of miles to get basic health care, forced to go to court to plead to help to protect themselves and their ability to then have children in the future,” Biden said. “The cruelty is astounding. And it’s a direct affront to a woman’s dignity.”
Democrats want to eliminate any restrictions on abortion. The top issues for voters in 2024 are immigration and the economy. Abortion ranks in single digits in most polls.
Joe Biden is at historically low polling numbers. His current approval is at 33%. He has a lot of work to do if he is to convince voters to give him a second term. It remains to be seen if Democrats can win again on the issue of abortion.
On the democracy messaging, Biden got off to an odd start when he presented himself as an election denier. Biden, and other Democrats, have adopted the narrative that because Trump questioned the 2020 election, with the end result the January 6 riot on Capitol Hill, Trump and MAGA Republicans are a threat to democracy. He began his remarks by referring to former Governor Terry McAuliffe as the “real governor” of Virginia.
Mr. President, I’m right here. https://t.co/wSpbqmLX9w
— Glenn Youngkin (@GlennYoungkin) January 23, 2024
Sounds like an election denier to me. What’s next? A rally in Georgia where he calls Stacey Abrams the real Governor of Georgia?
As usual, Biden mumbled through his speech. There was an odd remark when he was speaking about “don’t mess with women.”
BIDEN (heavily mumbling): "Don't mess with the woman of America unless you wanna get the benefit!" 😬 pic.twitter.com/le771eCfTc
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) January 23, 2024
What “benefit” is he talking about? Pro-abortion groups spent millions of dollars to get Biden elected in 2020 before Roe v Wade was overturned. They will do it again this year.. What else does Biden have to run on? Fear and abortion is it.
The big relaunch was interrupted by ceasefire protesters about 15 times.
Biden's speech is interrupted by pro-Hamas protests — AGAIN: "Look, please don't jump."
His event has been a complete and total disaster. pic.twitter.com/IjLsPZk5d2
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) January 23, 2024
There were about two dozen protesters who interrupted Biden’s speech. They yelled and waved banners. One waved a Palestinian flag. It sounds like Biden has grown accustomed to these disruptions during his events.
Biden did not seem phased by the rapid series of interruptions from different pockets of the packed auditorium at George Mason University’s Hylton Performing Arts Center. Nor were the rows of supporters standing behind him on stage holding red, white, and blue signs that said “Restore Roe” and “Defend Choice.”
“This is going to go on for a while. They’ve got this planned,” he said, while supporters attempted to drown out the protesters with chants of “Four more years.”
Biden is in big trouble with Muslim voters, especially in Michigan, an important swing state. They are a big voting bloc in Michigan for Democrats. Muslim leaders have warned Biden that he is losing their votes with his support of Israel in the Israel-Hamas war. I don’t think they will switch their votes to Trump in November but there is the risk that they will sit the presidential election out and that could throw Michigan solidly in Trump’s column. As of today, the Real Clear Politics aggregate shows Trump up over Biden by 5.3%.
The concern for Biden’s personal safety in light of all the ceasefire protests is apparent. After Biden’s speech concluded and the event ended, Secret Service agents surrounded him on the stage.
Secret Service swarms Biden as he wraps up his remarks — which were interrupted by pro-Hamas protesters at least 13 times pic.twitter.com/lEoS5LFldS
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) January 23, 2024
Biden is not exactly mastering his re-election campaign. It looks like he will continue to remain in his basement as much as possible as he did in 2020. When he does campaign, it is in nearby states like Virginia or in Delaware and Pennsylvania when he is relaxing in one of his homes away from the White House.
The re-election campaign has undergone a shake-up. They are taking Barack Obama’s advice and two top advisers, Mike Donilon and Jen O’Malley Dillon, will make the move next month to campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware. It’s all-hands-on-deck mode with Trump moving quickly to look like he’s the Republican nominee.
O’Malley Dillon, currently Biden’s deputy chief of staff, will be the campaign chair, and Donilon, a senior adviser and longtime Biden aide, will serve as chief strategist. Both have served in the White House from the first day of Biden’s administration.
O’Malley Dillon ran Biden’s successful general election campaign in 2020 and has been a principal architect of the president’s reelection while juggling other White House duties. Donilon is a longtime adviser who oversaw Biden’s message and strategy in the 2020 campaign and has replicated that role at the White House.
So, what happens to Biden’s current campaign manager? She’s staying in her current role. There is no way Biden could replace a female Hispanic campaign manager when such a big deal of her appointment to the job came from Biden. Historic! Or something. Julie Chavez Rodriguez is going to have to share the responsibility with Jen and Mike. Mike will be the campaign’s central messaging and paid media strategy person while Jen will be in charge of organizing an executing the path to 270 electoral votes.
Rodriguez put a happy face on the situation.
“Mike and Jen were essential members of the senior team that helped President Biden and Vice President Harris earn the most votes in American history in 2020, and we’re thrilled to have their leadership and strategic prowess focused full-time on sending them back to the White House for four more years,” said Chavez Rodriguez.
Is the shake-up to appease Obama? An admission that another diversity hire has proven unable to do the job? Or is Biden just bringing in people he is comfortable with to help him get re-elected? I guess we’ll find out.
