Some Democrats are pushing for more members of their party to pose a challenge to President Joe Biden next year.
Voters have expressed concerns about the president's mental and physical fitness affecting his ability to serve another term, but he has yet to face any significant obstacle to running at the top of the Democratic ticket in what will likely be a 2020 rematch with former President Donald Trump.
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Rep. Hillary Scholten (D-MI), a Michigan Democrat who ran in the newly-redrawn 3rd Congressional District, fending off Republican challenges in a previously red district, urged Democrats to “get more people out there,” as 2024 looms.
“Only positive things could come from an open and competitive primary in the presidential election,” Scholten told Politico. “It is a detriment to all of us if we are ignoring the concerns of the public around the president’s image.”
Democrats haven't blocked other candidates from getting into the 2024 race; however, the field of challengers is small — and shrinking.
On Monday, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced he was switching from a Democrat to an independent, leaving Biden and self-help author Marianne Williamson the sole known blue party candidates.
“It’s problematic that we’re ignoring it," Scholten said. "It makes us look out of touch, it makes us look afraid."
Scholten's call for action isn't just for other Democrats to get involved in the contest.
Biden has resisted calls to engage in primary debates, despite demands from his long-shot primary rival asking the Democratic National Committee to hold them. Questions about Biden's mental and physical fitness have been at the top of voter concerns in national polls.
However, to hold a similar event to the ones the GOP has held, Biden needs a larger field to compete with, and most of those on the speculated shortlist for a presidential bid in 2024 have denied the prospect, throwing their support behind Biden.
Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) is the name most floated as a leading Democratic who could make a 2024 presidential run — but the California government has ruled it out.
“We need to move past this notion that he’s not going to run,” Newsom said last month. “President Biden is going to run and I’m looking forward to him getting reelected.”
With Newsom backing Biden, the biggest threat to the president’s reelection chances could come in the coming weeks, as Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN) stepped down from his Democratic leadership role last week while considering a possible run for the White House.
While the Minnesota Democrat supports Biden’s agenda, he’s launched a public movement encouraging him not to run for reelection in order to preserve his legacy and has made several coded and blatant comments regarding his age.
“And if he were 15 to 20 years younger it would be a no-brainer to nominate him, but considering his age it’s absurd we’re not promoting competition but trying to extinguish it,” Phillips told Politico in February.
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Biden, 80, would be 86 at the end of his second term — making him, for the second time, the oldest person to assume the U.S. presidency. In a recent Monmouth University poll, 76% of voters think Biden is too old to serve another term effectively, while only 48% feel the same about Trump. Trump is 77 and would be 82 at the end of a second term — which would make him the second-oldest sitting U.S. president.
The Washington Examiner reached out to the Phillips and Scholten for comment.