After Trump’s NH win, Biden gets the opponent he wants

Source: Politico | January 24, 2024 | Jonathan Lemire, Elena Schneider and Holly Otterbein

The president’s campaign gears up for a Trump rematch

MANCHESTER, New Hampshire — The general election has all but begun — and it’s the race President Joe Biden’s team wanted.

Former President Donald Trump’s victory in the New Hampshire primary Tuesday dealt a blow to the hopes of his strongest challenger and strengthened Trump’s hold on his party’s nomination. Biden’s reelection team took Trump’s win over Nikki Haley as the starting gun for what will now be the longest and most grueling general election campaign in modern American political history.

Those aides believe that Trump poses a far greater threat to the nation’s democracy than any of his Republican rivals would. But they also feel the most confident about their chances in that looming matchup. That’s despite some reasons for concern — top among them Biden’s low approval ratings and recent polls showing the president trailing Trump in key battlegrounds. A wide swath of his own party doesn’t want Biden to seek a second term.

Trump must still clear a legal hurdle before he can become the GOP’s presumptive nominee. The Supreme Court is expected on Feb. 8 to hear arguments on whether states can use the Constitution’s 14th Amendment to keep him from the ballot.

Assuming Trump clears that hurdle, Biden aides and allies believe a faceoff with Trump will help negate the incumbent’s biggest weakness — his age — and motivate both swing voters and reluctant Democrats to turn out against Trump.

“I expect that Donald Trump will be the nominee, and I expect that people will understand the stakes in this election,” said Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.). “But we will need to be at people’s doors, talking to voters, listening to voters and making sure that we can come together as a country or re-elect Joe Biden.”

Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.), a member of the Biden campaign’s national advisory board, said the electoral map this year will look a lot like it did in 2020 and 2016.

“It will be another relatively close election,” he said. “But with a fast improving economy and Trump as the GOP nominee, I feel very good about Biden’s chances.”

……..

Tagged: , , ,

Viewing 2 posts - 1 through 2 (of 2 total)
Viewing 2 posts - 1 through 2 (of 2 total)

You must be logged in to reply to this topic.