President Biden’s dire reelection picture is sending shock waves of fear through the Democratic Party’s ranks and sparking public infighting over whether they should stick with their aging leader.
Alarm sounded after new polling showed Mr. Biden trailing former President Donald Trump in a hypothetical rematch in five of the six battleground states that the Democrat carried in the 2020 election.
The 80-year-old president also faces an anybody-but-Biden sentiment and erosion of support among young, Black and Hispanic voters, according to the nationwide survey of registered voters.
“Biden’s challenge is going to be how do you reenergize that group that was part of his coalition and part of the Democratic coalition for years,” said Don Levy, director of the Siena College Research Institute, which conducted the survey with The New York Times.
The survey showed that half of registered voters believed Mr. Trump’s policies helped them, compared with 35% who said the same about Mr. Biden. By 59% to 37%, voters said they trust Mr. Trump more with the economy.
Mr. Biden trails Mr. Trump in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada and Pennsylvania. Mr. Biden leads Mr. Trump in Wisconsin, the pollsters found.
“Bidenomics” is not resonating with voters who, by a 2-1 margin, say the economy is more important to them than societal issues such as abortion and threats to democracy.
Strikingly, 71% of respondents — including close to 80% of voters younger than 30 — said Mr. Biden is too old to be an effective president.
“That puts him in a very challenging overall position,” Mr. Levy told The Washington Times.
Mr. Biden, meanwhile, gave an upbeat assessment in a speech highlighting federal spending he delivered for trains and railways in the Northeast Corridor.
“I truly believe this country is about to take off because, for the first time in a long time, we are bringing pride back to cities and towns all across America that have been left behind,” Mr. Biden said at an Amtrak repair shop in Delaware. “I can honestly say I have never been more optimistic about America’s future.”
Mr. Biden’s gloomy reelection outlook springs from voters looking for a fresh face and unenthusiastic about a Biden-Trump rematch.
Indeed, a Quinnipiac University poll released last week found that Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is running as an independent, is the top choice of 22% of voters, including a plurality of independent voters.
Democrats are beginning to panic.
“This is the first time that I have felt like the 2024 election is in great trouble for the president and for our democratic control,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal, Washington Democrat and chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said in an MSNBC interview.
David Axelrod, who served as a senior adviser to President Obama, suggested it could be time for Mr. Biden to rethink his reelection bid.
“What he needs to decide is whether that is wise; whether it’s in his best interest or the country’s?” Mr. Axelrod wrote on social media.
In another post, Mr. Axelrod said Mr. Biden has defied conventional wisdom before, “but this will send tremors of doubt through the party — not ‘bedwetting,’ but legitimate concern.”
The response irked Biden loyalists.
Ronald Klain, Mr. Biden’s former chief of staff, reminded voters that Mr. Axelrod was critical of Mr. Biden’s performance in the 2020 Democratic primary race.
“Man who called Biden ‘Mr Magoo’ in Aug 2019 is still at it,” Mr. Klain said.
Cristobal Alex, a former member of the Biden White House, defended the president by saying The New York Times has a track record of muffing polls.
“Voters will move in President Biden’s direction when they focus on what he actually has done and the policy differences between him and his Republican opponent,” Mr. Alex said on X. “Instead of fretting over the same polls that have gotten it wrong time and again, Biden’s campaign is putting in the work to activate a diverse, winning coalition to win next November.”
The Biden campaign is framing the 2024 race as a referendum on Mr. Trump and betting that Mr. Trump’s Make America Great Again movement is too radioactive for a majority of voters.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, former Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell of Florida and Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez plan to hold a press conference Tuesday in Miami ahead of Mr. Trump’s rally in nearby Hialeah and the third Republican primary debate in Magic City.
They will be “slamming MAGA Republicans’ extreme ‘Florida Blueprint’: higher costs, an economy rigged to the rich and powerful, and fewer freedoms,” according to their press release previewing the event.
Mr. Biden will not be there. He also has not been in demand for Democratic candidates and causes in other races.
Mr. Obama has taken a more prominent role. He is featured in robocalls ahead of the statehouse elections Tuesday in Virginia and an abortion referendum in Ohio.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, kept Mr. Biden at arm’s length in his reelection run against Attorney General Daniel Cameron, a Republican.
A recent Morning Consult poll found that 68% of Kentuckians disapprove of Mr. Biden’s job performance and 60% approve of how Mr. Beshear has handled his job.
The good news for Mr. Biden is that more than half of registered voters in the Times/Siena poll hold unfavorable views of Mr. Trump and say Mr. Trump committed serious federal crimes.
It also encouraged anybody-but-Biden Democrats, showing a generic Democrat holds a 48% to 40% lead over Mr. Trump across the six battleground states.
The flip side is that a generic Republican defeats Mr. Biden by a 51% to 36% margin.
Mr. Levy said voters are letting it be known that they are not satisfied with the idea of Mr. Biden or Mr. Trump.
“What voters are telling us is we really do wish we had an alternative for both of them,” he said.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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