Famed political strategist and commentator David Axelrod is asking President Joe Biden to consider dropping out of the 2024 race for president after some disastrous polling numbers.
David Axelrod wants Joe Biden to think about dropping out
This is a significant development because Axelrod knows Biden quite well as the campaign manager of former President Barack Obama‘s 2008 run. Mr. Axelrod also worked as an adviser in the Obama White House.
Democrats are in a full panic on social media after a series of polls from The New York Times and Siena College showed the president trailing his likely Republican opponent former President Donald Trump in five of the six swing states that were surveyed.
Notably, Mr. Biden is behind in Nevada by 10 percentage points. Pennsylvania, Michigan, Georgia, and Arizona also tell the same story with a Trump’s lead superior to four points.
It's very late to change horses; a lot will happen in the next year that no one can predict & Biden's team says his resolve to run is firm.
He's defied CW before but this will send tremors of doubt thru the party–not "bed-wetting," but legitimate concern. https://t.co/g6zeWF0T87— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) November 5, 2023
The current leader of the free world is leading in Wisconsin by just two points. Voters in many polls say that the state of the economy and Biden’s age are big problems for them when it comes to 2024.
Axelrod says Biden’s age is a big issue for voters
Biden, who is turning 81 this month, is only three years older than Mr. Trump. However, age seems to be less of a factor for the former reality TV star.
For Axelrod, the election is too important to gamble it all on an 81-year-old candidate that some voters are rejecting because of age.
The commentator wrote on X, the site formerly known as Twitter, Sunday: “Only Joe Biden can make this decision. If he continues to run, he will be the nominee of the Democratic Party. What he needs to decide is whether that is wise; whether it’s in HIS best interest or the country’s?”
Yes, there also is risk associated with changing course now, as there is little time left for a primary campaign–and campaigns are how we test candidates. (Re @RonDeSantis.) But there is a lot of leadership talent in the Democratic Party, poised to emerge.
— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) November 5, 2023
He continued: “Yes, there also is risk associated with changing course now, as there is little time left for a primary campaign–and campaigns are how we test candidates. Trump is a dangerous, unhinged demagogue whose brazen disdain for the rules, norms, laws, and institutions or democracy should be disqualifying. But the stakes of miscalculation here are too dramatic to ignore.”
Axelrod was more upbeat about Biden in 2019 when he told The New Yorker: “Joe Biden would be perhaps the strongest candidate because he would cut into some of those areas of strength of Trump.”
President Biden and Axelrod have complicated history
Biden is determined to run for reelection, and he is unlikely to listen to the words of Axelrod. Moreover, the two men always have a complicated history.
According to reports, Biden never liked the fact that some members of the Obama orbit tried to keep him on the outside when he became the vice president nominee in 2008.
Only @JoeBiden can make this decision. If he continues to run, he will be the nominee of the Democratic Party. What he needs to decide is whether that is wise; whether it's in HIS best interest or the country's?
— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) November 5, 2023
The same Obama people also closed the door on a potential run for president in 2016. They mostly supported Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
To make matters worse, for a few of the Obama alumni, Biden’s brand of politics was a relic, while they were set to change Washington. Biden’s team responded to Axelrod reminding people on social media that in 2019, the strategist called the former Senator from Delaware “Mr. Magoo.”
They have also used Axelrod’s old tweets against himself.
Biden team v. Axelrod continues pic.twitter.com/fO8JlDqCv6
— Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) November 5, 2023
Team Biden responds to bad polling numbers
Kevin Munoz, a spokesman for Biden’s campaign told The New York Times in a statement: “Gallup predicted an eight-point loss for President Obama only for him to win handily a year later. We’ll win in 2024 by putting our heads down and doing the work, not by fretting about a poll.”
The Biden campaign is betting that the inflation numbers will go down next year and there might be more calm in foreign policy. While this is possible things could also go the other way.
So far, Biden does not have a serious primary challenger. Beating an incumbent president is very hard and some talents in the Democratic Party do not want to tarnish their future.
Many of the rising stars prefer to wait their turn in 2028.
