President Biden is poised to announce his reelection campaign Tuesday, despite low approval ratings and a string of polls showing most Americans and half of Democrats do not think he should run again, signaling a potential enthusiasm gap for the oldest president in history.
After months of hinting and teasing, Mr. Biden is expected to announce his 2024 bid in a formal launch video.
The president says he has accomplished plenty – from a bipartisan infrastructure package and major climate legislation to efforts to rally the West to aid Ukraine – and is openly relishing a rematch with former President Donald Trump, who maintains a grip on the GOP electorate.
But seven in 10 Americans, including half of Democrats, do not want Mr. Biden to run for a second term, a new survey finds, and his top domestic policy adviser, Susan Rice, announced her departure on Monday in a major staff shakeup on the cusp of the 2024 launch.
Mr. Biden’s approval rating sits at 40% and hasn’t been above the halfway line since the middle of his first year, when it dipped below 50% in early August, according to Gallup.
One top pollster said Democrats should be “very concerned” about the lack of excitement around Mr. Biden.
SEE ALSO: Seven in 10 Americans say Biden shouldn’t run again, poll shows
“It is not just money. It is also enthusiasm, which means if Biden’s enthusiasm stays low, he is going to have to work to have people at rallies and working the door-to-door effort in the polls, and it takes a lot of work,” said David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center.
He compared the situation to an aging sports hero who doesn’t want to retire.
“We have a person who got the most votes than any other president in United States history. That is an amazing milestone and probably a tough act to follow, but it is hard to hang up the cleats and walk away,” he said.
Nearly half of those who say Mr. Biden should not run again cite his age as a major reason, according to an NBC News poll released over the weekend.
The president is 80, making him the oldest sitting president in history, and would enter a second term at age 82 if he wins the next election.
The NBC survey also showed Mr. Trump, 76, solidifying his position as the front-runner in the GOP race, shaping up a potential rematch that few voters want.
SEE ALSO: Susan Rice’s exit leaves hole in Biden team on eve of expected 2024 bid
“The only people who want a Trump/Biden rematch are Trump and Biden, as each believes he can beat the other,” said Darrell West, director of governance studies at the Brookings Institution.
“Most people in each party would prefer another choice because we all know what that type of campaign [it] is going to be like. It will be nasty and potentially dangerous because of the raw emotions that will get exposed.”
Mr. Biden spent last weekend at Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland, before his anticipated announcement.
He will speak Tuesday at the North America’s Building Trades Unions Legislative Conference in Washington. Labor unions are a key constituency for the president.
Vice President Kamala Harris will speak about abortion rights at a political event Tuesday with advocates at Howard University, placing the focus on an issue that will animate Democrats in the coming election cycle.
Later in the day, both leaders will burnish their diplomatic bona fides by welcoming South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol to the White House for important meetings and a state dinner on Wednesday.
Ms. Rice’s departure on the eve of Mr. Biden’s probable 2024 announcement is notable. She spearheaded some of Mr. Biden’s most controversial and ambitious domestic agenda items, from work on immigration to actions on health care, gun safety and student loans.
Neera Tanden, a senior adviser and well-known progressive whose earlier nomination as White House budget director ran into a Senate roadblock, is considered a leading candidate to replace Ms. Rice, according to Axios.
The move, if it happens, would suggest a leftward lurch at the White House that could enthuse the liberal base as Mr. Biden enters campaign season.
Mr. Biden is expected to name Julie Chavez Rodriguez, a senior West Wing official and granddaughter of iconic labor leader Cesar Chavez, as his campaign manager.
CBS News, which first reported the development, said the campaign will be headquartered in Mr. Biden’s hometown of Wilmington, Delaware, or nearby Philadelphia.
The Republican National Committee wasted little time in outlining its counter-attack. It launched a website, factcheckbiden.com, on Monday in anticipation of the president’s announcement.
“Whether it’s claiming that the border is secure, that our economy is strong, or that the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan was a success, Biden and his administration refuse to acknowledge the truth,” RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said. “The RNC will continue to hold Biden accountable for his lies, and in November 2024, the American people will too.”
A series of polls have found a wide swath of the electorate has doubts about Mr. Biden running again, particularly because of his age, though Democrats tend to say they like Mr. Biden generally and would fall in behind him if he runs.
A Harvard CAPS/Harris poll taken this month found 37% of Democrats and three-quarters of independents believe Mr. Biden is too old to be president.
However, Mr. Biden was easily the top pick in a hypothetical 2024 primary field, attracting 37% of the vote versus 10% for Ms. Harris and 8% for Sen. Bernard Sanders of Vermont, while other notable Democrats drew smaller percentages.
A Monmouth University Poll in March found nearly three-quarters of Democratic voters view Mr. Biden favorably.
Yet only a quarter wanted him to run again and nearly half, or 44%, said they wanted him to step aside so an alternative could seek the party nomination.
The NBC News survey says 41% of all registered voters report they definitely or probably will vote for Mr. Biden in the general election, while 47% say they plan to vote for the eventual Republican nominee.
Broken down by party, 88% of Democratic voters say they will definitely or probably vote for Mr. Biden compared to 22% of independents and 3% of Republicans.
The major question is who Mr. Biden will face after a potentially bruising primary on the GOP side.
Many polls have shown Mr. Biden edging out Mr. Trump in a potential 2024 rematch. In fact, that could be why Mr. Biden is running at all, said Edward Sarpolus, a Michigan-based pollster.
“Would Biden be running if there was a strong alternative and no Donald Trump?” Mr. Sarpolus said. “In politics, you go with the devil you know and not the devil you don’t know.”
He said Mr. Biden might even try to use the storyline about his weak candidacy to his advantage.
“He’d rather have Trump being seen as a tougher candidate, so Biden can cast [himself] as an underdog,” he said.
Generally speaking, voters aren’t keen on Mr. Trump, with 35% of respondents telling NBC that he should run, while six 10 said he should not.
“There is something wrong with our system when the 2 great national parties, for going on 8 years, have front runners & nominees that are loathed by a majority of Americans,” tweeted Gabriel Sterling, the chief operating officer in the Georgia secretary of state’s office who famously rebutted Mr. Trump’s claims of fraud in the 2020 election results.
Dissatisfaction with the frontrunners might be short-lived, given that Mr. Trump’s presence will unify the Democratic base behind Mr. Biden, while Mr. Biden’s candidacy will serve as a foil that rallies the Republican base behind Mr. Trump, according to Mr. West.
Even so, Mr. Paleologos said both men will have “to figure out how to manage people who may not vote this time around because they are not enthused about either candidate.”
The president tends to struggle in hypothetical matchups versus Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who may launch a campaign soon but will have to catch Mr. Trump, who leads by double digits in early primary polling.
Mr. DeSantis, traveling in Japan on Monday, dismissed a question about polls that showed him trailing Mr. Trump in early GOP primary polling.
“I’m not a candidate, so we’ll see if and when that changes,” Mr. DeSantis said.
• Jeff Mordock contributed to this report.
