Andrea Singmaster is grateful to President Joe Biden. He helped secure funds to clean up a contaminated site in her suburban Philadelphia area, and his efforts to lower drug prices through Medicare will help her family members cope with arthritis and Crohn's disease.
However, she is not so grateful that Biden, who turns 81 this month, is running again.
As a lifelong Democrat who voted for Biden in 2020, Singmaster hopes someone else will emerge to change the face of the 2024 election, including Dean Phillips, a Democrat who is seen as having little chance, or a Republican who can beat Donald Trump for the Republican primary. nomination.
“I love Joe Biden. You know, he's great, but he's an old man and I'm really annoyed by the shortlist and I wish I could just run away," said the 50-year-old Singmaster.
The contrast between the popularity of the Biden agenda and the unpopularity of its carrier, even among the most loyal supporters of the Democratic party, is a reason for great concern for Democrats ahead of the 2024 election.
Biden's legislative victories include measures popular with large swathes of American voters, such as allowing the federal government to negotiate drug prices through Medicare, capping insulin costs, boosting infrastructure investment and fighting climate change.
Biden sought to incorporate these items into a broader economic message — dubbed “Bidenomics” — about reinvesting in working-class America and reducing the cost of basic necessities like energy and health care.
Biden and top administration officials spent much of the summer touring the country as part of an "Investing in America" tour to highlight and explain these policies and try to drum up support for the new president's term.
There is little indication that these efforts have been successful.
According to the latest Reuters/Ipsos survey, the support enjoyed by Biden is around 40%, which is almost the lowest during his presidency. It also regularly gets low marks for managing the economy, fueled in part by discontent over high food and energy prices. Poll results consistently indicate that Biden's unpopularity is deep-rooted.
"I just know that polls show that the vast majority of people in this country think the president is too old, and I don't know if they're able to look beyond that and see the increase in manufacturing jobs and other aspects," said Democratic political analyst James. Carville. "Until now, they have not been able to".
The good news for Biden is that Trump, 77, is also unpopular. He's the clear favorite in the GOP race, but neither of them fares well at the state level.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll in September showed that about 57% of respondents have an unfavorable opinion of Biden, while about 58% have an unfavorable opinion of Trump.
That increases the chances that both camps will focus on negative voter sentiment, urging people to vote against a rival they describe as a threat, rather than relying on enthusiasm for their candidate.
Biden, a year before the election, lags behind Trump in five of the six most important states, according to a survey conducted by the New York Times and Siena College on Sunday.
Joseph Foster, a Pennsylvania Democratic committeeman who recently left the post of party chairman in Montgomery County, the largest and most important part of Philadelphia, said the number of Democrats who tell him that Biden is "too old" or that he is not "sharp" is worrying. He said that this should be a time for celebrating Biden's achievements, not for lamenting the polls and openly questioning whether the president should run again.
"I do not understand. This is a man who comes in and does all the things we should do as Democrats," said Foster.
No more Joes from Scranton?
However, the research apparently encourages the calls of some Democrats who believe that Biden's campaign staff should focus less on him and his "Bidennomics" and more on the danger they claim Trump represents.
Reuters spoke to more than a dozen Democratic officials, most of whom said Democrats have the best chance of keeping the White House if they use Trump, not Biden, to mobilize voters.
Due to the negative results of the survey, some Democrats believe that Biden's campaign staff should focus less on him and his "Bidennomics" and more on the danger they claim Trump represents.
"I think it's time to stop playing the 'Joe from Scranton' template," said one Democratic strategist who worked on the 2020 campaign and now helps congressional candidates, commenting on ads that tout Biden's working-class roots in Scranton in Pennsylvania.
Biden aides are rejecting the polls as well as calls to focus on negative messages about Trump. They argue that the election is still a year away and that undecided voters will eventually turn to Biden when they have to choose between him and Trump.
Singmasterova confirms this attitude. She said that she will support Biden if there is a repeat of the 2020 election.
However, in an election that is likely to be a crucial turnout, no election headquarters can ignore signs of waning enthusiasm.
A campaign memo from last week said Biden plans to ask voters to let him "finish the job" and focus on proven winning issues like abortion rights, while portraying Trump as alienated from Americans.
"Our early research shows that the president's message that he needs to finish what he starts is a winner in mobilizing our base and persuading undecided voters," said campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez.
Vice President Kamala Harris recently spoke at a donor dinner in St. Louis about not associating Biden with his policies.
She said analysts and the media often talk about poor research results, but then went on to list accomplishments ranging from capping the cost of insulin and prescription drugs for the elderly to investing in green energy jobs -- which are widely popular.
"We have a lot of good material. However, one of the challenges we face is to let everyone know who is responsible for it," said Harisova. I say that so we can also get rid of some, you know, whining.
Translation: NB
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