Joe Biden won’t tell us when – and if – he is running for president. He appears to be running but wants to keep us in suspense: President Joe Biden appears in no rush to declare his candidacy for re-election.
What is Joe Biden Waiting For?
Some of his advisers believe the president will wait until July or even until the Fall at the latest to declare his candidacy, Axios reports.
Presidential candidates must report their quarterly campaign donations after each quarter. The current fundraising quarter lasts until June 30, and the summer tends to be a difficult time for fundraising.
“No Republican candidate or potential candidate will affect our timing,” a Joe Biden adviser told Axios.
He appears intent to let former President Donald Trump’s legal problems suck up all of the media oxygen in the room. Trump’s legal problems have all but eclipsed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as his political rival. He leads the governor by at least 30 points.
If he were to declare his bid for re-election soon it could prove counterproductive to the old adage that if your political opponent is destroying himself to let him. Axios notes that Biden’s advisers are suggesting that he stay out of the way to contrast himself with Trump.
“He’s earned the luxury of making the timetable,” Brad Bannon, a Democratic strategist in Washington, told “The Associated Press.” “The longer he can keep this thing focused on his duties in the White House, and less about the campaign back-and-forth, the better off he’s going to be.”
A Biden adviser told the AP under the condition of anonymity that the president’s re-election effort would be much larger than his 2020 campaign that cost $1.7 billion. The Biden team hopes to craft an individualized campaign to target his base and woo persuadable swing voters.
The details of Biden’s re-election campaign have not been decided. However, his message remains letting him “finish the job” he started and framing the race as between himself and MAGA Republicans who he claims undermine the nation’s core values.
Questions remain where Biden’s campaign headquarters would be. Alternatives include Philadelphia or the president’s home city of Wilmington, Del.
Biden’s 2020 campaign manager, Jen O’Malley Dillon, will remain in her role as a deputy White House chief of staff. Julie Chavez Rodriguez, director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs and a deputy campaign manager, could be a possible choice for campaign manager, as are Sam Cornale, executive director of the Democratic National Committee, or Quentin Fulks who ran Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock’s campaign.
Should Biden decide against seeking re-election, it could open the field for Vice President Kamala Harris. All indications suggest that Biden will seek a second term. Despite questions about Harris’ competence among some Democrat leaders, she remains the odds-on favorite to replace Biden on the top of the ticket if he decides against running.
“He says he’s not done,” First Lady Jill Biden said in February. “He’s not finished what he’s started. And that’s what’s important.”
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in February that she doesn’t expect anyone to challenge Joe Biden if he runs.
“I hope he runs. I’m for him if he runs. I know that the Democrats will fully embrace him,” Pelosi said. “If he runs, it’s over.”
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