'Dooming democracy': Dem strategists fear 'five-alarm fire' in 2024 with 'selfish' Biden at the helm
President Joe Biden's chances of reelection are dwindling following a poll showing him losing to Trump in five purple states, and Democratic strategists are growing increasingly worried about Biden's electability a year out from the 2024 presidential election.
The New York Times/Siena College poll of swing state voters published last week showed that five states Biden won in 2020 — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, and Pennsylvania — would flip to former President Donald Trump in 2024 if the election were held today. Pollsters additionally found that core Democratic blocs that made the difference for Biden in the last election, like young voters, Black voters, Hispanic voters and women are all souring on the president.
One unnamed progressive strategist told NBC News that if Biden lost to Trump, he would "[go] down in history as being incredibly selfish and possibly dooming democracy as a result."
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"It’s a giant gamble an[d] most people will be deferential to him in terms of making the choice," the strategist said. "But more people are now acknowledging that he has a real choice to make."
Pollster Terrance Woodbury told NBC News that Biden's perceived over-emphasis on foreign policy was hurting his support among young voters and Black voters in particular, where Biden's support has dropped from 78% to 49%.
"'We don’t have money for student loans, but we’ve got money to send to Ukraine.' 'We don’t have money to invest in schools, but we have money to send to the Middle East,'" Woodbury said of respondents' frustrations. "It is less about a position either way and more about, 'Stop investing there until you have taken care of home first.'"
David Axelrod – a top adviser to former President Barack Obama — recently suggested that Biden should drop out of the race to allow a more electable candidate room to campaign and win. However, those close to Biden aren't sharing concerns expressed by strategists and voter demographics, with one adviser calling Axelrod one of Biden's "most consistent detractors." Biden's campaign pointed NBC News to a memo by campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez justifying their decision to continue Biden's reelection bid.
"In the off-year, we have built a strong operation to once again mobilize the coalition of voters that sent President Biden and Vice President Harris to the White House with a record number of votes in 2020," the memo read.
NBC News additionally reported that even if primary challengers were to run against Biden, time has effectively already run out for new candidates to obtain ballot access in early primary states, and deadlines are rapidly approaching for delegate-rich states like California and Texas. Biden has also staffed the Democratic National Committee with loyalists and campaign staff — a standard practice among incumbent presidents — who would be unlikely to accommodate late primary challengers.
