Democrats' dilemma: Is Biden asset or liability at hustings?

WASHINGTON • US President Joe Biden launches a coast-to-coast tour this week to tout the new climate and tax Bill and give a boost to Democrats running in November's elections. But when he arrives, some of those candidates may be nowhere in sight, fearing Mr Biden is too much of a liability.

Democrats hope the trip will boost the President's poor poll numbers and draw attention to his achievements. But some candidates for Congress worry that campaigning with Mr Biden will hurt them in the Nov 8 election, according to more than a dozen interviews with senior Democrats and local campaign officials in battleground states including Pennsylvania and Arizona.

Mr Biden, whose latest approval rating is 40 per cent, is polling lower than most, if not all, Democratic candidates in competitive races, often by double digits, Democratic pollsters said.

The trip, the latest effort to reset his presidency, will test the limits of Mr Biden's influence in a party that has shown flashes of disloyalty in recent weeks. Some Democratic members of Congress have questioned whether Mr Biden, at 79 already the oldest US president, should run for re-election in 2024.

As they consider campaigning with him, Democratic candidates will closely watch whether Mr Biden can move public opinion on his tour. On the plus side, Mr Biden can share good news about recent legislative wins on climate change, gun control and boosting domestic microprocessor production along with a Kansas victory on abortion rights.

"Sure it was a great month, but the jury is still out whether it actually made a difference or whether it's just too late," said one senior Democrat.

Meanwhile, opposition Republicans have unified around attacking Mr Biden despite the party's internal divisions over former president Donald Trump and the Jan 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.

Right-wing media, elected officials and Mr Trump have hammered a message that the White House has struggled to combat: Mr Biden and his policies are responsible for record inflation, and he is old, doddering and confused.

While Mr Biden's defenders note that inflation is higher in some other countries and say he is undiminished, some candidates worry they may face awkward questions at events about whether they support the President's re-election. Their answers could serve as fodder for Republican rivals, sources said.

Democratic candidate for US Senate Tim Ryan is running a populist campaign in Ohio against Trump-backed Republican J. D. Vance. In July, Mr Ryan cited scheduling conflicts for skipping a Biden economic speech in Cleveland and has dodged questions about whether Mr Biden should run again. Mr Ryan would only consider appearing with Mr Biden under limited circumstances, an official with the campaign effort told Reuters.

The official, for example, noted that Mr Biden is expected to return to Ohio for the groundbreaking of an Intel plant that will eventually provide 3,000 jobs and get a big boost from the Chips Act, which aids the country's semiconductor industry.

"That is something Tim Ryan would likely attend with Biden. The messaging and politics are aligned," the official said.

Ms Jennifer Holdsworth, a Democratic strategist, called the decision by some Democrats to distance themselves from Mr Biden a "colossal mistake".

"This has been a monumentally consequential administration. Voters don't care about the politics of the moment, they care about results and this administration has delivered," Ms Holdsworth said.

REUTERS