© Reuters. US President Joe Biden arrives aboard Air Force One at the Delaware Air National Guard Base in New Castle, Delaware, USA. March 3, 2023. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
By Jarrett Renshaw and Trevor Hunnicutt
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden’s team is poised to tap top Democratic allies and even some people once seen as possible rivals as key representatives in his planned re-election bid.
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) will host a “national advisory committee” made up of the kind of rising star politicians, including Governors JB Pritzker of Illinois, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Phil Murphy of New Jersey, who are known for their own applications. for higher office but remained sidelined after Democrats survived the 2022 midterm elections with their Senate majority intact.
The decision by White House politicians and other allies to sign high-level spokespersons, typical for parties entering the campaign season frenzy, shows Biden heading for an announcement. official re-election now expected in April, although the date could slip, sources familiar with the situation told Reuters.
Biden’s team is also taking other steps, including considering possible options for a campaign manager in a host city for the 2024 party convention where Biden would be officially nominated. Chicago and Atlanta were seen by Democratic officials as top contenders for the convention, which took place virtually in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Campaign strategy is expected to be set by the same inner circle that guided Biden’s 2020 run against former Republican President Donald Trump, including his last 2020 campaign manager, Jen O’Malley Dillon.
But this group is struggling to come up with a short list of potential campaign managers for 2024 as they search for a trusted operator outside of their own ranks who has experience winning an industry-wide campaign. State in competitive state, among a variety of other qualifications.
“They are looking for a unicorn,” said a party adviser.
The new advisory board will be used to demonstrate party unity behind the candidate, traveling the country for campaign appearances and doing television interviews on behalf of the party and, eventually, the candidate. News that the group was in the process of being formed was first reported by The Washington Post.
Biden, who turned 80 in November, is the oldest president to hold the post. Recent polls show that aging leaders are of concern to Americans in general, and Biden’s age in particular is of concern to Democratic voters. But the president’s aides are ignoring polls showing that doubts about his age are irrelevant at this stage of the race.
No major rival for Biden has emerged on the Democratic side, although self-help guru Marianne Williamson is expected to formally announce on Saturday that she is mounting a long-running bid in the primary after doing so in the more crowded field of where Biden emerged victorious in 2020.
On the Republican side, Trump is seeking a second term and a host of potential challengers are setting the stage for their campaigns.
With no official re-election announcement, the White House continues to book Biden campaign-style appearances across the country. On Monday, Biden is expected to address the International Association of Fire Fighters, the first major labor group to endorse him ahead of the 2020 campaign.
Biden’s public approval rating was just 41% in a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll last month. That’s close to the lowest point of his presidency, though similar to where Trump was at the same time in his administration.