Joe Biden moves through the landscape like a president who would like another four years in the White House. The 80-year-old incumbent apparently wants to give the impression that there is no reasonable alternative. Potential rivals under discussion, such as California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, are reluctant to approach the incumbent from their own party. However, there is not that much time left: there are almost twelve months until the first primaries. There are silent warnings that Biden is too old. He is the oldest president in US history.
Biden countered the old age concerns in early February with a speech on the state of the nation that was dynamic by his standards. The middle class must be prosperous, then the poor would have a ladder up and the rich would have enough anyway. The Biden of 2023 pulls out populism and steals rhetorical trump cards from Trumpist Republicans. The emotional focus for “State of the Union” was on “Buy American.” For too long, the US had “imported products and exported jobs”. It sounded as if Joe Biden hadn’t also played in the free trade orchestra.
A commentary in conservative National Review warned the new Biden would be an “impressive opponent.” After all, he has been getting along with the (narrow) Republican majority in the House of Representatives so far. Rather, the other side has problems to contend with. It’s unclear who should be leading the Kulturkampf once morest transgender people, Black Lives Matter and abortion, lawsuits over voter fraud and theses regarding Presidential son Hunter Biden’s laptop with supposedly incriminating data. Some of the Republican donors are concerned that that will be enough. The New York Times A strategy paper from the well-funded association Americans For Prosperity has fallen into their hands, which states that a “new chapter” has to be written and that a corresponding presidential candidate is needed.
After successfully launching the Chinese balloon on the Atlantic coast and an unidentified flying object over Alaska, another over Canada and Lake Huron, Biden has eliminated “dangers”. And when it comes to escalating aid to Ukraine, he encounters less criticism in the USA than with the celestial objects, to which he reacted too hesitantly. The United States can afford this war, which hits the adversary Russia without American casualties.
fragile goods
The way to the White House is via primary elections, i.e. via the votes of a relatively small, politically committed section of the population. The veteran Biden knows the tactics of getting the winning votes in each state. For a time in the 2020 primary, Bernie Sanders appeared to have odds with his adoring fans. He was ahead in the first rounds in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada.
Then came South Carolina, where regarding 60 percent of the Democratic primary is African American, many closely affiliated with black churches, the traditional civil rights movement, and a Democratic Party that has helped many black politicians to rise, Biden’s people. He won hands down. Alabama and Arkansas followed with similar circumstances. Sanders slid off.
At Biden’s urging, his party rewrote the pre-election calendar. The first primary is now early February 2024 in South Carolina. There is little known criticism of Biden from major Democratic donors. Populism is accepted, apparently in the expectation that things won’t get that bad. Class struggle would be something else. But health is a fragile commodity, even for politicians. In the midterm elections in November in Pennsylvania, Democrat John Fetterman sensationally captured a Republican seat and gave the Democrats a majority in the Senate. Fetterman had suffered a stroke a few weeks before the election. Now he was temporarily hospitalized due to complications. Biden would be 82 if he took office following re-election.
