Will he, or won’t he? That’s the question hanging around President Biden these days regarding plans for a second presidential run.
Some reports indicate the door is still open for Biden to run for re-election, but the larger school of thought seems to believe he will eventually find a way to bow out, citing health, family, or both.
While speaking this week at the White House Tribal Nations Summit, an audience member yelled out a call for four more years of Biden, as if the country could afford it. The President wasted no time in appearing to shoot down the prospect of a second run by saying, “I don’t know about that”:
#BREAKING: In response to a crowd member seeming to shout, "four more years," President Biden responds: "I don't know about that." pic.twitter.com/vtbcpAbwEc
— Forbes (@Forbes) November 30, 2022
Perhaps all Biden means is that he hasn’t made a decision on that yet. There’s still the upcoming Christmas holiday season to spend with family, the time frame in which he said he would confer and make a decision.
On the other hand, Biden’s prone to let things slip or let the cat out of the bag before it’s ready to come out. It’s also entirely plausible that behind closed doors, the Biden family and/or the Biden handlers have decided that a second presidential run is not in the cards. Biden’s age aside, his record on inflation and the economy is terrible, and it’s not clear he could win re-election against a strong GOP opponent.
Some have pointed to the midterm results where Democrats ended up doing better than expected as a reason for Biden to run again. While favorable for Biden’s party, those results had less to do with the President and more to do with abortion than anything else. There’s no indication that Biden could carry the presidency again especially now that his record as the nation’s chief divider is front and center along with his foreign policy failures and dereliction on the economy.
As the Examiner notes, polls among Democrats don’t find them thrilled about the potential for another Biden run:
At least 66% of voters in an early exit poll from early November stated they do not want Biden to run for reelection, with nearly half of respondents saying Biden’s policies were hurting the country. The president’s age has also been a concern for many, as he just celebrated his 80th birthday on Nov. 20.
Democratic politicians have given differing answers on if they will support Biden’s potential reelection, with some saying yes and others either giving indirect answers or believing someone else should take Biden’s spot. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), seen by many in the party to be a possible replacement for Biden, however, says he will not challenge the president for the candidacy and will support Biden if he runs in 2024.
Up until just before Thanksgiving, California Gov. Gavin Newsom appeared ready to launch a 2024 presidential campaign regardless of what Biden decided to do. Suddenly, though, his tune changed and he now says that if Biden runs, he’ll stand aside. That’s probably a smart move since even if Biden is perceived as weak, he’s still the incumbent, and challenging him for the 2024 Democratic nomination would be an unpopular move among the Democratic base.
The short answer to this question is exactly what Biden said. We still “don’t know about that” so we’ll have to keep guessing about Biden’s potential future plans.
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