President Biden is casting himself in the first ad of his 2024 reelection campaign as a brick wall against “an extreme movement that seeks to overturn elections, ban books and eliminate a woman’s right to choose.”
The narrator in the “Flag” ad says Mr. Biden is running to make sure the “sun will not set” on the principles and values embodied in the American flag: “Courage, opportunity, democracy, freedom.”
“Joe Biden has made defending our basic freedoms the cause of his presidency: the freedom for women to make their own health care decisions, the freedom for our children to be safe from gun violence, the freedom to vote and have your vote counted, for seniors to live with dignity, and to give every American the freedom that comes with a fair shot at building a good life,” the narrator says.
The ad includes video footage of former President Donald Trump’s supporters storming the U.S. Capitol. It comes a day after Mr. Biden launched his reelection bid and provides an early sense of the message the 80-year-old plans to drive home over the next 18 months.
Mr. Biden has his work cut out for him, according to a series of polls that show voters are concerned about his age and would prefer a fresh face as the party’s standard-bearer.
Liberals also are throwing cold water on his decision to run again.
The “Don’t Run Joe” campaign from RootsAction.org, which backed Sen. Bernard Sanders’ presidential bid in 2020, warned Tuesday that Mr. Biden’s reelection push “is moving the Democratic Party toward a likely disaster in 2024.”
“As the Democratic standard bearer, Biden would represent the status quo at a time when ‘wrong track’ polling numbers are at an unprecedented high,” the group said in a statement.
Mr. Biden, however, has not drawn a serious Democratic primary challenger. Self-help author Marianne Williamson and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the son of former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of former President John F. Kennedy, are running against him.
Voters also are not excited about the real prospect of a rematch between Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump, who is the clear favorite to win the GOP nomination.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.