OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Senior Democrats that include some of President Joe Biden’s closest aides believe that his campaign is pursuing a losing strategy against likely GOP nominee and 2020 opponent former President Donald Trump.
So far, Biden’s campaign appears to be focused on highlighting the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot and a message that Trump is a “threat to democracy,” as well as Trump’s character stemming from his court losses, Axios reported.
“Biden’s core inner circle hasn’t lost faith in that approach, the product of Biden and his longtime aide, Mike Donilon,” the outlet reported, adding: “But that puts them on an island within much of the party about what will decide the election, as polls consistently have shown Biden tied or behind even after a slight bump following Trump’s criminal conviction.”
Multiple polls have shown that voters are highly concerned about the state of democracy, with their biggest worries being inflation and the economy. The polls also indicate a decline in support for President Biden among key Democratic voting groups, including blacks, Latinos, young adults, and union members. However, the message about democracy seems to be gaining traction with older voters, Axios reported.
A Democratic strategist in touch with the campaign told the outlet: “It is unclear to many of us watching from the outside whether the president and his core team realize how dire the situation is right now, and whether they even have a plan to fix it. That is scary.”
People close to the president have expressed concerns to Axios about raising issues in meetings because Biden’s group of long-time loyal aides can ostracize dissenters and leave them on the outside looking in.
“Even for those close to the center, there is a hesitance to raise skepticism or doubt about the current path, for fear of being viewed as disloyal,” another person in Biden’s orbit told the outlet but who spoke on condition of anonymity for just that reason. “There is not a discussion that a change of course is needed.”
According to the RealClearPolitics average of polls, Biden’s approval rating is a dismal 38.4 percent.
Longtime Democratic strategist Howard Wolfson, who worked for former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg in the 2020 primary against Biden, said in a statement to Axios: “If the election were today, we would lose. Can that change? Yes. Is it on the path to do so? I don’t see that yet.”
“The stakes for the debate” on June 27 between Biden and Trump “are sky high,” he added.
Biden’s polling numbers continue to falter as more Americans see him as a fading figure both physically and mentally.
As such, Trump has managed to take small leads over the president in two historically blue states—Minnesota and Virginia—according to new polling.
Donald Trump leads Joe Biden by 0.2% in Virginia and 1.6% in Minnesota according to Decision Desk HQ/@thehill‘s latest polling averages. pic.twitter.com/6vf3evh9Uq
— Decision Desk HQ (@DecisionDeskHQ) June 14, 2024
Trump is leading by a fraction of a percent in Virginia, while taking a 1.6-point lead over Biden in Minnesota.
To the former, Trump met this week with Virginia GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin to discuss how the two can help each other flip the state red in November.
“Two sources with knowledge of the meeting told Fox News Digital on Thursday that Trump and Youngkin had discussed recent polling showing Trump neck-and-neck with President Biden in the Old Dominion State, after Biden won the state by 10 points in 2020. The meeting included discussions on how Trump can pull ahead of Biden as the election cycle further intensifies,” the outlet reported.
The pair discussed energy, inflation, and trade, said the report, adding that it was the first meeting between the 45th president and Youngkin, who was elected governor in the state’s 2021 election. Youngkin is Virginia’s first GOP governor since the tenure of Bob McDonnell, who served from 2010 to 2014.
