Biden hopes for repeat victory by going back to ‘basement,’ not campaign trail

President Biden is giving all indications of sticking with a less-is-more approach as he considers a reelection campaign.

Dubbed the “basement strategy,” Mr. Biden kept a low profile during his 2020 campaign. He holed up in Delaware during pandemic shutdowns, allowing President Trump to soak up the political oxygen and eventually doom himself with voters.

Mr. Biden has adopted a similar approach in the White House by ducking news conferences and campaign-style events. Now the nation’s oldest president, at 80, says he intends to run for reelection.

T.J. Bucholz, a Democratic Party strategist, said Mr. Biden took advantage of the pandemic last time as he challenged a profoundly controversial and chaotic incumbent.

Those factors have changed. As the incumbent now, Mr. Biden is saddled with the economy’s performance.

“I think Democrats are privately concerned that the Biden administration needs a new blueprint because what we have now isn’t working,” Mr. Bucholz said. “Tactically, the Biden team is looking at polling data and is realizing that what happened in 2020 is unlikely to repeat itself.”

Democratic strategist Brad Bannon brushed off worries that Mr. Biden needs to do more to win reelection.

“The reality is the Republicans are self-destructive,” Mr. Bannon said. “So why interfere when they are hurting themselves? It worked in 2020, and it is working now.”

Questions about Mr. Biden’s approach inevitably include age and competence. The president’s verbal, physical and policy-related stumbles heighten that sense.

Mr. Biden said on Friday that he will announce his decision about a reelection bid “relatively soon.” While concluding a trip to Ireland, the president told reporters he had already decided.

“I’ve already made that calculus. We’ll announce it relatively soon,” he said. “The trip here just reinforced my sense of optimism about what can be done. I told you, my plan is to run again.”

Mr. Biden’s apparent lack of urgency is buoyed by the fact the list of rivals so far for the Democratic nomination is short and nonthreatening: Marianne Williamson, a self-help author, and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who is best known as the scion of a political dynasty and an anti-vaccine activist.

So while polls show Democrats, citing Mr. Biden’s age and penchant for gaffes, would prefer a younger choice, there is no clear alternative.

Mr. Biden was expected to reveal his candidacy soon after the New Year, and then rumors swirled around the prospect of a declaration around his State of the Union address in February, though both predictions proved premature. 

Some now speculate that the president could put off an announcement until the fall, allowing him to stay above the campaign fray and exploit the benefits of incumbency.

Mr. Biden also has yet to announce who will lead his campaign.

Meanwhile, Republicans jockeying for their party’s nomination think Mr. Biden will be vulnerable in 2024.

Mr. Trump, who announced his bid in November, has made campaign stops in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina and held one of his signature rallies in Waco, Texas, last month.

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley entered the race in February and has been making the rounds in states with early nominating contests. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina announced an exploratory committee last week with stops in Iowa and New Hampshire.

Mr. Biden has held official, hyperchoreographed events outside Washington to tout infrastructure spending. He has toured the U.S.-Mexico border and traveled to battleground states to outline his economic agenda, his plan to protect entitlements and his push to lower health care costs.

His most frequent getaway has been to his home state of Delaware.

By not declaring his candidacy, Mr. Biden is fueling speculation about whether, despite his statements, he will run. Historically, his timing isn’t unusual.

Mr. Trump officially launched his reelection bid in June 2019, 17 months before Election Day. President Obama announced in April 2011, President George W. Bush announced in May 2003 and President Clinton filed his paperwork in April 1995.

Mr. Trump said Mr. Biden’s wait to make an announcement seems fishy.

“Look, I watch him just like you do, and I think it’s almost inappropriate for me to say it: I don’t see how it’s possible,” Mr. Trump told Fox News. “There’s something wrong.”

It’s not a given that Mr. Trump will emerge as the Republican nominee. Mr. Bucholz said a strong non-Trump candidate “could spell trouble not just in the White House but down the ticket in races across the country where electoral margins were razor-thin last time.”

The White House bristles at the suggestion that Mr. Biden takes a low-key approach, particularly when facing the press.

Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has brushed aside reporters’ suggestions that the president is being shielded from questions.

“Absolutely not,” she said, citing the president’s habit of fielding shouted questions from reporters as he walks to and from events.

She called that level of engagement unprecedented.

Martha Joynt Kumar, director of the White House Transition Project, said Mr. Biden’s approach to engagement is standard.

“During election years, presidents live by schedules, scripts and meet-and-greets,” she said. “Both the presidential candidates and their staffs are risk-averse when it comes to public speaking.”

She keeps a tally of informal question-and-answer sessions and said Mr. Biden held 375 sessions during his first two years in office. Mr. Trump had 339, Mr. Obama had 75, Mr. Bush had 243 and Mr. Clinton had 394.

Mr. Biden trails badly on other measures.

He held just 22 formal press conferences in his first two years, according to Ms. Kumar’s tally. Mr. Trump held 41, Mr. Obama held 46, Mr. Bush held 40 and Mr. Clinton held 84.

Mr. Biden also trailed in sit-down interviews with news outlets. He took part in 58 — far fewer than Mr. Trump, 205; Mr. Obama, 275; Mr. Bush, 89; and Mr. Clinton, 132.

• Joseph Clark contributed to this story.