A month away from the midterms, President Biden is appearing at Democratic Party fundraisers, but not on the trail with Democratic candidates.
Today President Biden will travel to Poughkeepsie, N.Y., and speak at an IBM facility, then go to New York and appear at two Democratic Party fundraisers, a DNC event at the home of New Jersey governor Phil Murphy in Red Bank, and then a Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee fundraiser at the home of James and Kathryn Murdoch in New York City. (Yes, this is one of Rupert Murdoch’s sons.)
By Biden’s standards, that’s a busy day. But I note we are 32 days away from Election Day and we have yet to see Biden appearing on the campaign trail with any big-name Democratic candidate. (One scheduled appearance with Charlie Crist was canceled because of the hurricane.) One of the reasons for this is that Biden’s job approval rating is pretty lousy in a lot of the states that matter most in this year’s midterms. Back in mid August, when Biden was allegedly on the rebound, the Washington Post found:
Candidates in key races in battleground states are either not asking him to come — or actively avoiding him when he does, according to a Washington Post survey of more than 60 candidates in the most competitive gubernatorial, U.S. Senate and congressional campaigns in the country.
Few candidates said they wanted Biden to campaign for them in their state or district, with many not responding to the question at all. The Post also asked if candidates wanted Vice President Harris as a surrogate campaigner for the Biden administration and got the same set of unenthusiastic responses.
As a veteran Republican pollster reminded me, there are always candidates in less high-profile districts and states who will welcome a visit from the president:
I remember in 2006, in the Nebraska’s third district race, Adrian Smith could not pull away in what should have been a safe GOP open seat. I called the White House political office, and they were so happy someone wanted George W. Bush to help their campaign that they sent him as quickly as they could. It helped him win by 10 points. So yes, somewhere out there is a race Biden could actually help. It’s just not a key race.
But you also can’t help but wonder if Biden’s lack of appearances on the campaign trail for rallies is another concession to the fact that the president turns 80 next month. Biden doesn’t have Covid-19 as a reason to avoid crowds anymore; in the president’s own words, “the pandemic is over.” Biden has already caught Covid-19 and recovered. In July, Peter Baker of the New York Times reported:
Although White House officials insist they make no special accommodations the way Reagan’s team did, privately they try to guard Mr. Biden’s weekends in Delaware as much as possible. He is generally a five- or five-and-a-half-day-a-week president, although he is called at any hour regardless of the day as needed. He stays out of public view at night and has taken part in fewer than half as many news conferences or interviews as recent predecessors.
It seems likely that Biden just doesn’t have the energy to barnstorm the country and make a lot of appearances even if he wanted to, or if the candidates wanted him to.
The contention that Biden was “embracing the role of the Democratic Party’s top campaigner” is yet another case of grandiose promises and boasts and only tepid follow-through.