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The White House made clear this week that President Biden plans to run for reelection in 2024, but questions and concerns continue to mount over whether Biden will receive support for another term from some leading members in the Democratic Party.
Questions also remain about how active Biden will campaign for his party’s candidates in the midterms, and whether Democrats will even want his help, if offered. To date, the president has only endorsed three congressional candidates, including Rep. Kurt Schrader — who lost his primary election to progressive Democrat Jamie McLeod-Skinner.
To better understand how these questions are playing out in Washington, Fox News contacted political experts from both sides of the aisle to get their take.
Here’s what they had to say:
DNC MEMBER TELLS CNN BIDEN SHOULDN’T RUN IN 2024, SAYS VOTERS ARE LOOKING FOR ‘CHANGE CANDIDATE’
US President Joe Biden looks down while he speaks during an EU – US summit at the European Union headquarters in Brussels on June 15, 2021. ( BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
Christy Setzer, Democratic strategist and the founder of New Heights Communications:
“I don’t think anyone’s talking seriously about a replacement for President Biden. There ARE genuine questions about what it means to have a President who’s approaching 80, and that would be true of Donald Trump in 2024 as well as President Biden. But so long as he can keep doing the job and wants to, I don’t see those conversations going anywhere substantive.”
“No doubt, Biden is a pull on candidates in the field right now, who — unless they’re in very blue districts — are running away from Washington rather than running toward it. That extends to who they want on the campaign trail with them. That said, it may very well be a mistake. There is such a clear contrast between the AR-15-loving, abortion-criminalizing GOP right now, and sanity in the Democratic Party. Why wouldn’t candidates lean in on that?”
Democratic strategist Christy Setzer. (Fox News)
NY TIMES, MSNBC, CNN, OTHERS FLOAT DEMOCRATS’ CONCERNS ABOUT BIDEN’S AGE, QUESTION IF HE WILL RUN IN 2024
Mike Shields, founder of Convergence Media and former RNC chief of staff:
“Joe Biden has no actual base of support. Who are the Biden Democrats who have been pining for him all these years? The left-wing acceded to his desires so long as he did what they wanted and was seen as a competent alternative. He tried very hard at the first and clearly failed miserably at the second.”
“Democrats are running from Joe Biden like scalded dogs. Joe Biden’s presidency is an utter disaster with crises from baby formula to gas prices to retirement funds disappearing. And the voters are in a mood to punish him for it. Just this week, Mayra Flores, an outstanding candidate in Texas’ 34th congressional district, became the first Republican to flip a majority-Hispanic Democratic seat in South Texas in over 100 years. This same congressional seat was won by former Democratic Rep. Filemon Vela by 13 points in 2020. Joe Biden will preside over historic losses for his party this year.”
Republican strategist and former RNC chief of staff Mike Shields. (Mike Shields)
Kevin Walling, Democratic political strategist and Vice President of HGCreative:
“In 1982, many Republicans said the same thing about Ronald Reagan and in 1994, Bill Clinton faced similar calls even before the 1994 midterms. Both incumbent presidents — one Republican and one Democrat would go on to win landslide elections. I think we have a tendency as Democrats to complain and wring our hands when the leader of our party shows even a small drop in the polls or any kind of adversity in public opinion, rather than rallying behind our president like Republicans do.”
“Former President Trump has decided that in order to continue to flex his control over the GOP and to settle perceived grievances with members of his own party, he must get involved in GOP primaries. This strategy has already born out mixed results, as we saw in South Carolina just this past week. President Biden, like the majority of his predecessors hasn’t gotten involved in primary elections, instead focusing on the general in November for Team Blue. Every leading Democrat in competitive senate and governor races from Pennsylvania to North Carolina, Ohio to Texas has said they want the president on the ground stumping for their campaign. It’s an incredibly powerful image when Air Force One comes to town and there’s no better fired up campaign surrogate than Joe Biden.
Democratic strategist Kevin Walling (Kevin Walling)
DEMOCRATS GRUMBLE OPENLY ABOUT BIDEN’S AGE, EFFECTIVENESS AS 2024 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION LOOMS
Lisa Boothe, Republican political strategist and a Fox News contributor:
“[The Democrats] have no choice but to cut him loose. He’s the worst president potentially in history. He’s turned our beautiful country into an absolute dumpster fire. Americans were sold a lemon with Joe Biden. The promise was normalcy. Instead, it’s been self-inflicted disaster after another and complete chaos. It’s easy to see why they hid him in the basement during the 2020 election.”
“He’s radioactive. Everything he touches turns into a flaming pile of garbage. Who wants the endorsement of a guy with a 33% approval rating? Putin’s endorsement is probably more popular at this point.”
(Lisa Boothe)
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The comments provided to Fox News Digital in this article are part of a new weekend series where strategists from across the political spectrum are asked the same few questions related to political hot topics and are provided with an opportunity to offer their perspective.
