(PatrioticPost.com)- People in Washington ask themselves the same question: Will Joe Biden run for reelection?
The 79-year-old Democrat and his closest allies say he wants to seek a second term in the White House. Biden told former President Barack Obama that he plans to run again.
However, considering his age — he would be 81 in November 2024 — and his shaky support ratings, there are uncertainties over whether he will do so.
The GOP is also braced for a tumultuous midterm election season, with some speculating that poor results could change the president’s mind.
A Democratic strategist said on the condition of anonymity that if Biden
is weakened, the sharks will circle the waters.
Few dispute Biden’s ambitions for a second term, and some Democrats believe he will, despite the skepticism of many in the political establishment.
Democratic strategist Jim Manley said he expects him to run again. However, he wouldn’t be surprised if a group of Democrats and their staffers are keeping a close eye on things as the weeks and months pass.
Vice President Harris is the logical successor if Biden does not run.
After a tumultuous first year of internal office and personnel changes, she has stayed primarily in Washington. If Biden decides to step down after one term, Harris will almost surely fight for the Democratic nomination, and her stature and personal story — she is the first Black, first woman, and first Asian American to hold the job — will make her a dangerous opponent. But her errors in government, as well as her problems as a presidential candidate in 2020, have created doubts about her political power.
If Biden withdraws, she will almost certainly face competition for the nomination.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who ran for president in 2020, is on the road promoting Vice President Joe Biden’s $1 trillion infrastructure bill, which was signed into law six months ago.
Some see him as wanting to run for a second term, citing his rapid rise and early primary victories. However, at the age of 40, he lacks the experience of other Democrats like Biden, and he has struggled to get traction with Black voters, a vital constituency for Biden.
Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) are both progressives who could run in a wide-open contest. Warren has stated that if Biden enters the race, she will not run.
That practically means she, along with many people, is waiting for the president to make his decision.
Former President Trump casts a pall over everything, and Democrats live in a nightmare.
Biden campaigned for President in 2020 because of Trump, and he easily won the party’s nomination. Many Democrats wanted to vote for the candidate who had the best chance of defeating Trump.
That topic will resurface as Democrats debate who is best suited to lead the party against Trump or a Trump-like successor like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R).
Biden appeared to be an unexpected pick at points during the 2020 election season when two dozen candidates vied for the job. He wasn’t as charismatic as younger challengers like Harris and Buttigieg, nor was he as ideological as Sanders and Warren. The party’s future did not appear to be represented well by the former vice president and longstanding senator.
House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) said that few people thought Joe Biden could be elected president, yet he was. Regardless of what his last opponent says, he won the election and did it fairly and squarely.
Many people may decide in 2024, as they did in 2020, that Biden is still the party’s best hope to win the White House.
