Only time will tell if President Joe Biden has a busier-than-normal schedule in September and October, in terms of being a high-profile surrogate — or campaign anchor — for House, Senate, and gubernatorial candidates, prior to the midterm elections.
Despite holding the nation's highest office and serving as commander-in-chief, there's no guarantee of Democratic Party candidates leaning on Biden to be their campaign surrogate closer before Election Day (Nov. 8), according to the Washington Post.
The Post reports a number of Democrat candidates are caught in an "uncomfortable position" regarding presidential invites.
On one hand, the White House may be riding high from the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act; but then again, President Biden still has low job-approval ratings with various tracking polls — including Reuters, which recently revealed that Biden had favorability ratings of 38% approve/57% disapprove.
It's also an awkward position for Biden, writes the Post, since the 50-year politician "has prided himself on being one of the most sought-after Democratic surrogates."
The Post continues, "[President Biden] is being attacked more often in televised ads than Obama was at this point in 2010, or Trump was in 2018. He goes largely unnamed on Democratic campaign websites and Twitter accounts.
"And candidates in key races in battleground states are either not asking him to come — or actively avoiding him when he does," according to a Post survey of 60-plus candidates in the most competitive midterm races.
President Biden isn't the only prominent Democrat potentially getting the cold shoulder before the midterms. The Post reports that Vice President Kamala Harris has also generated a number of "unenthusiastic responses" as a surrogate campaigner.
The vague surrogate responses for both principals include:
"No comment [about Biden] from the campaign at this time," said a spokeswoman for Sen. Michael F. Bennet, D-Colo, according to the Post.
"I welcome anybody to come to Arizona and let me, you know, show them around the state and, you know, the issues that we're facing," said Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., when asked if Biden would garner a campaign invite. "So yeah, I mean, it doesn't matter who it is."
"We have not asked President Biden or VP Harris to campaign in Ohio and have no plans to do so," a spokeswoman for Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, told the Post. Congressman Ryan is in a heated battle for the state's vacant U.S. Senate seat, taking on Republican challenger J.D. Vance, a Trump-endorsed candidate.
Cedric L. Richmond, a senior official at the Democratic National Committee, characterized the notion of fringe candidates passing on Biden's personal touch as "political malpractice."
"A lot of these things, Democrats have been trying to accomplish them for a long time," Richmond told the Post. "Who wouldn't want the person who was finally able to do that to come and campaign for them? If they are reluctant, I think it's political malpractice.
"If you don’t want Biden, it's malpractice," says Richmond.
A former senior White House adviser, Richmond then added, "If we had a dollar for every time someone underestimated or counted Joe Biden out, we could pay off the national debt. You'll see his numbers go up, you'll see accomplishments happen. That's what voters want to see — and if I'm a candidate, I’d tie myself to that."
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