OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
The Biden campaign is pulling out all stops to try and convince the majority of Americans not to believe their bank accounts ahead of the 2024 election, and they’re using Vice President Kamala Harris to do it.
Harris is launching a series of campaign events aimed at promoting the alleged successes of “Bidenomics”—the basket of economic policies that President Joe Biden’s administration has adopted and implemented —despite record-high inflation coupled with elevated gas, food, energy, and housing prices and costs.
“The Biden campaign has to be very nervous about turnout problems among potential Democratic voters in Michigan and Georgia,” said Ken Kollman, director of the University of Michigan’s Center for Political Studies, after both states flipped from red to blue in 2020, Fox News reported.
“It’s likely that every sliver of turnout will matter in these states,” Kollman added.
“It’s nothing new to quote James Carville’s ‘It’s the economy stupid’ line, but the economy consistently does play a major role in determining presidential outcomes,” Democratic strategist Kaivan Shroff noted as well
Earlier this week, the official tour was announced, with the White House unveiling an event scheduled for April 29 in Atlanta and providing a preview of an upcoming event in Detroit later this week. A press release indicated that additional locations and dates would be added soon, Fox News said.
“President Biden and I are committed to creating an economy in which every person has the freedom to thrive,” Harris said in a statement regarding the tour.
During her Atlanta kickoff, the vice president addressed hundreds of attendees, primarily Black entrepreneurs and lawmakers, at an event where she delivered remarks. She emphasized legislation passed during the Biden administration, with a focus on investments in infrastructure and manufacturing.
The focus on Georgia comes amid polling suggesting that more blacks — mainly black men — were shifting to Trump amid Biden’s inflationary term after he barely beat the former president in the Peach State by less than one-half of a percent in 2020. Currently, Trump holds a 5-6-point lead over Biden in the state.
Harris’ office clarified that the tour aims to demonstrate to voters the administration’s achievements in expanding opportunities for traditionally underserved communities. Accompanying the vice president on the tour are representatives from the Small Business Administration and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, who are available to offer information and resources on a range of programs.
Anthony Michael Kreis, a Georgia State University College of Law assistant professor, said, “The big keys for Biden in Michigan and Georgia is to solidify the base and hold onto one key demographic, educated suburban voters.
“For both these groups, Biden has a huge challenge. While the economy is booming on paper, Americans aren’t necessarily feeling like it at home, particularly after a rough few years of inflation,” Kreis told Fox News.
Michigan Republican strategist Jason Cabel Roe said in response to the tour: “You can’t dispute how much money Biden has spent trying to prop up the economy, which is why we have a $1.8 trillion deficit, a $35 trillion national debt and record inflation.”
Despite all the government spending, Roe added that voters are still “dissatisfied with the cost of living, the cost of gas, diminishing take-home pay, and a feckless leader who can’t seem to manage anything competently.”
Kyle Kondik, managing editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics, proposed that Trump is striking a chord with voters by tapping into “nostalgia for the pre-COVID economy” as part of his messaging.
“Biden doesn’t necessarily need to be perceived as better on the economy than Trump to win, but he does need to combat this nostalgia,” he said.
