Democratic voters are split on whether President Biden should run for reelection in 2024, with opponents citing his old age and failure to go far enough on a far-left agenda.
Mr. Biden, 79, has yet to formally announce his intent to run for a second term, but Democratic voters are already mulling other candidates.
“I’d like to see somebody else only because I think the president is very old and tired,” said Steven Van Grack, who nevertheless counted himself as a Biden fan when he turned out to see the president at a Democratic National Committee rally in Rockville, Maryland last month.
Mr. Van Grack did not mention anyone else he would like to see run.
At the rally, a Democratic voter who declined to give her name said she was open to seeing someone else seeking the party’s presidential nomination who would move forward more aggressively on liberal proposals.
“There are things he could do better,” she said. “But with a role like being president, you take it day by day, watch, listen and learn.”
She wanted to see more done on raising the minimum wage and supporting workers’ rights, as well as ensuring equity in the workplace.
“We don’t want to have to fight for basic things,” she said.
Mr. Biden has indicated that he plans to run for reelection in 2024.
Concerns abound within the Democratic Party about a Biden candidacy in 2024 when he will be 82 years old.
Rep. Carolyn Maloney, a longtime New York Democrat who lost her recent primary to Rep. Jerrold Nadler, recently doubled down on her opposition to Mr. Biden running for reelection. She has walked back her opposition during her campaign in the primary, including apologizing to the president.
“On the record? No, he should not run again,” Ms. Maloney told The New York Times.
Other elected Democrats dodge questions about Mr. Biden’s ability to serve another four-year term.
Rep. Cori Bush, a Missouri Democrat and a member of the far-left “Squad,” recently refused to comment on Mr. Biden’s reelection when asked directly whether he should run.
“I don’t want to answer that question,” Ms. Bush told St. Louis television station KSDK. “He’s the president. He has the right to run for a second term, absolutely. But I don’t want to — I’d rather you not ask that question.”
A USA TODAY-Ipsos poll that came out this week showed more than half of Democratic voters did not want to see Mr. Biden run for another term, despite approving of his recent string of legislative victories.
The poll, conducted Aug. 18-22, found that 56% of Democrats wanted to see someone else run for the White House in 2024, compared to 44% who would want Mr. Biden in the race.
The same poll revealed that three-in-five Republican voters, or 59%, say they wanted former President Donald Trump as the nominee, with 41% percent saying they want someone else.
Mr. Trump, who has hinted at wanting to run again, would be 78 on Election Day in 2024. The former president has not officially announced his candidacy.
The poll, which surveyed 2,345 U.S. adults, had an error margin of +/-2.5 percentage points.
• Mica Soellner can be reached at msoellner@washingtontimes.com.
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