It seems Joe is already hinting at reasons why he won't go for a second run in 2024, and former Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah laid out five significant signs in his Op-Ed on Fox News:
• The campaign staff is noticeably absent.
• Travel is kept to a minimum.
• The Kamala Harris influence plays a role.
• Biden's response to the Hawaii disaster raises questions.
• The way the president handles the growing scandal involving his son, Hunter, is also a factor.
From Fox News:
Standing before a New Mexico audience recently, President Biden unintelligibly joked that, "I hibernated in a while – all, you know, in Iowa for a while." It’s not clear what he meant by that, but hibernating is an apt descriptor of the Biden 2024 re-election campaign.
Though Biden was mocked for seemingly campaigning from his basement in 2020, this summer he appears to be campaigning from the beach. That’s where he spent the weekend while Maui burned, and serious presidential contenders drummed up support at the Iowa State Fair. That’s just one of several indicators that Biden may not be planning to see his name on a ballot next year.
Skeleton Crew – Though Biden has begun hiring fundraisers for the 2024 campaign, his operation is a tiny skeleton crew of staffers working exclusively out of his home state of Delaware. That puts them closer to his homes near Wilmington and Rehoboth Beach, but far from the center of gravity in swing states or the nation’s capital.
As of last quarter, he had just four people on the payroll, all working out of the party offices. In July, the campaign announced the hiring of a few fundraisers, but there seems to be little urgency to mount a full-scale campaign and the first primary votes are five months away.
Strategic Travel – After spending some of the summer overseas, Biden is in vacation mode for the month of August. Not only did Biden skip the traditionally all-important Iowa State Fair, he traveled to Utah. My home state always welcomes the president of the United States, but we’re hardly a battleground state. A serious candidate would have campaigned in Nevada, Colorado and Montana.
He did go on to visit northern Arizona, where he proclaimed the Grand Canyon to be one of the "nine wonders" of the world and full of "ironic" species. He has always been a gaffe machine, but with the election ramping up, his new wilderness grab does nothing to expand his base in critical Arizona. In fact, it polarizes voters.
Feel free to hit the link above to get all the details from Chaffetz on those five points.
Apart from Chaffetz's insights, it's pretty clear to many of us that the Democrats won't back Biden for the 2024 race. He's no longer their star player, and if I had to bet, I'd say Gavin Newsom from California is their new rising star and will most likely take the lead in the Democrat primaries.
