Biden leans on Clinton, Obama popularity to boost sagging campaign

President Biden will seek to lift his drooping polling numbers Thursday night by teaming up with his more popular Democratic predecessors for a fundraiser expected to add more than $10 million to his campaign’s coffers.

The president will attend the money event featuring former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton at Radio City Music Hall in New York. Late-night host Stephen Colbert will moderate the conversation among the trio. Musical guests Queen Latifah, Lizzo, Ben Platt, Cynthia Erivo and Lea Michele will perform at the soiree.

Tickets start at $250, with high-level perks reserved for big donors. Attendees can pay $100,000 and more for a photo with all three presidents by famed photographer Annie Leibovitz. Those who contribute at the $250,000 and $500,000 levels will also have access to two separate fundraisers with the presidents.

The event is an opportunity for Mr. Biden to lean on the former presidents’ star power and unique abilities to tap into Americans’ emotions as they try to amp up the Democratic turnout in November.

Mr. Clinton left office in 2001 with a Gallup poll approval rating of 65%. Mr. Obama was right behind him, with 58% of Americans applauding his performance, according to Pew Research.
 
Mr. Biden is betting on nostalgia to energize his flagging campaign. His approval rating stands at roughly 40%, with more than 54% of voters disapproving of his job handling based on an aggregate of several polls, according to FiveThirtyEight. And in this year’s race he’s trailing former President Donald Trump, the presumptive GOP nominee, by 6 points, according to a Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll.

The president has intensified his fundraising efforts in recent weeks and has a significant financial lead over Mr. Trump.
 
Mr. Biden’s campaign had $71 million on hand at the end of February, more than double the $33.5 million in Mr. Trump’s campaign account, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission.
 
Last month was particularly lucrative for Mr. Biden, adding $15 million to his campaign, roughly five times the $3.5 million Mr. Trump raised.
 
The idea to bring the three presidents together came from former Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry, a longtime Democratic donor, according to an NBC News report. In 2012, he hosted a fundraiser for Mr. Obama’s campaign that included Mr. Clinton.

Mr. Trump’s campaign blasted the idea of reuniting three of the four living Democratic presidents.
 
“It’s no surprise the three Democrat stooges who have brought untold destruction to America are united by that misery,” Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement last month. “President Trump and Republicans are firmly united in the fight to beat Crooked Joe Biden.”