Senate Democrats facing tough reelections in 2024 are happy to tout President Biden‘s achievements, but they’re more coy about any plans to appear alongside the unpopular leader of the party in their home states.
With Mr. Biden himself up for reelection next year, some Democrats told The Washington Times that the president is more than welcome to stump on the campaign trail in their backyards. But most were hesitant to roll out the red carpet or express desire to appear next to the president, with his dismal job-approval ratings falling below 40%.
Democratic Sen. Jon Tester, prompted whether he wants Mr. Biden to campaign with him in red-state Montana, quickly changed the subject.
“I don’t know. Hell, we gotta get aid done for Ukraine,” Mr. Tester said, referring to an unfinished foreign aid package sought by Mr. Biden.
Democrats must defend six competitive Senate seats — plus keep the White House — in order to maintain control of the upper chamber next year with a 50-50 split.
In Michigan, where Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin is running for an open Senate seat in 2024, a recent Newsweek poll showed Mr. Biden‘s job-approval rating lagging far behind that of Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, 35% to 52%.
Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan, who chairs Senate Democrats’ campaign arm, predicted Mr. Biden is likely to make appearances in states crucial for their majority because they’re also presidential battlegrounds. However, he demurred on whether his vulnerable senators should appear with Mr. Biden.
“Certainly, in those states that are presidential battleground states, I would expect President Biden will definitely be campaigning there,” Mr. Peters said. “They tend to be aligned.”
Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, who is not seeking reelection after serving more than 25 years in Congress, urged candidates — at least in her state — to not shy away from Mr. Biden.
She said the eventual Democratic nominee for her seat should campaign hard with the president. It would bode well with Michigan voters, she contended, given the state’s ties to the auto industry and Mr. Biden joining the picket lines with autoworkers earlier this year.
“[Mr. Biden] is very strong. This is somebody who has fought for the auto industry, who’s bringing jobs home to Michigan through the [CHIPS and Science Act] and clean energy,” Ms. Stabenow said. “This is somebody who everybody talks about supporting unions. He’s been on the picket line.”
The campaigns of Democratic Sens. Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Jacky Rosen of Nevada did not respond to requests for comment. In 2020, Mr. Biden lost Ohio by eight percentage points to Donald Trump, and won Nevada by less than three points.
The lack of enthusiasm over the prospect of campaigning with Mr. Biden comes as his approval rating hit an all-time low this week of 34% in a Monmouth University poll, less than a year out from the election. Mr. Biden trails Republican presidential frontrunner Mr. Trump in hypothetical matchups in key swing states, including five where Democrats are up for reelection: Michigan, Nevada, Arizona, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.
Sen. Bob Casey, Pennsylvania Democrat who is running again, noted that he and Mr. Biden have already campaigned together and that he expects more events, given the president’s longtime ties to the Keystone State. But he said other candidates may have to make a different calculus, reflecting a view among some strategists that Democratic candidates in swing states will focus more on their own records than on the administration’s performance.
“We’ve been together a lot. There’s no question he’ll be in the state a lot, and we’ll be campaigning hard,” Mr. Casey said. “When voters make a decision, they’re making a decision about what I’ve done, my record, what my opponent stands for. I think there are individual determinations office-by-office.”
Sen. Tammy Baldwin, Wisconsin Democrat, said she will “welcome the president of the United States to Wisconsin, whenever he would like, especially if he has good news to announce.”
The Biden campaign released a memo last week entitled “Why Joe Biden Will Win in 2024.” Julie Chávez Rodríguez, Mr. Biden‘s campaign manager, said Mr. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will focus more in 2024 on explaining to voters the difference between themselves and Mr. Trump.
“There’s been no lack of coverage on polls about Joe Biden,” Ms. Chávez Rodríguez said in the memo. “But it’s important to remember Donald Trump, extreme MAGA Republicans and their dangerous ideas are extremely unpopular.”
Ms. Chávez Rodríguez outlined the campaign’s efforts to create state leadership teams in every battleground state by mid-January and new organizing efforts to target specific groups of voters.
“A one-size-fits-all approach to organizing will not win the November election – especially at a time when Americans are increasingly relying on their personal networks of friends and influencers over traditional media to consume the news,” she wrote. “That’s why our team is already piloting programs focused on Black, Latino, women, and young voters in key battleground states, emphasizing new resources and tools that are helping supporters and staff share our message in ways that will break through to our key coalition of voters. We are using the time we have now to fine-tune these programs and identify new ways of reaching our coalition of voters, so that come early summer, our organizing program is scaling across our battleground states to meaningfully engage our core coalition of voters – at the time we expect that they are increasingly thinking about the election.”
• Ramsey Touchberry can be reached at rtouchberry@washingtontimes.com.