While the midterm elections continue to churn and smoke their way to the finish line, there are plenty of political experts who are already looking toward 2024, and the circus of a race that will come then.
At this point, it’s all but certain that Donald Trump will be running again. He’s even gone so far as to declare that he’d be campaigning even if the DOJ indicts him.
On the left side of the aisle, however, there is some trepidation. Incumbent President Joe Biden has been saddled with some of the sorriest approval ratings of the modern era.
Yet still, it appears as though he’s insistent on running for reelection in 2024.
President Joe Biden’s top aides have been quietly building a 2024 campaign effort, with increasing discussions about who might manage the operation, potential themes and structure, according to nine people familiar with the planning.
The current plan is for a Biden re-election effort to rely heavily on the resources of the Democratic National Committee and only have a small campaign staff, a cost-saving configuration that follows the model of then-President Bill Clinton’s re-election bid and dramatically differs from then-President Barack Obama’s campaign, these people said.
They’re even work-shopping some campaign arcs.
Biden and his top advisers also are using the homestretch to November’s midterm elections to test possible 2024 themes, the people familiar with the discussions said, such as taking on wealthy special interests and casting his achievements in office as “promises made, promises kept.”
“The implicit contrast on ‘promises kept’ is clear and sharp,” said Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., a key Biden ally. “Former President Trump talked about fixing American infrastructure so often it became a running joke on late-night shows. President Biden actually got a bipartisan, strong infrastructure investment bill into law.”
Biden’s 2020 candidacy was largely seen as a stop-gap measure by the Democrats, who were hoping to capture moderate Republican voters who had strong feelings about Trump’s extra-political behavior.
