Naomi Lim of the Washington Examiner documents Democrats’ electoral concerns involving President Biden.
Most Democrats are closing ranks around President Joe Biden and denying reports of widespread panic in the party amid concerns about his reelection campaign’s prospects this November.
But some Democrats, such as party strategist Stefan Hankin, describe experiencing “existential dread” since 2016 because of former President Donald Trump. Biden’s predecessor and successive Republican challenger. Other Democrats are encouraging the party to acknowledge concerns about Biden, including his age and the state of the race, as the campaign tries to underscore the importance of participation this cycle.
Democratic “existential dread” emanates from Trump’s third presidential nomination, according to Hankin, president of Lincoln Park Strategies, a public opinion research firm.
“I’m expecting mostly panic from now until the election again,” Hankin told the Washington Examiner. “If Biden was up by a couple points in every single state, maybe there would be slightly less existential dread, but 2016 is not that long ago and the memory of it all.”
As such, this month’s debate between Biden and Trump will be a crucial moment for the incumbent, Hankin said.
“If Biden has a really bad night, then I think panic will sink in,” he added. “Everyone is going to get nervous on the fact that we could have a repeat of 2016 and Trump could be back in office.”
Regardless of national Democrats, their counterparts closer to the ground in battleground states across the country have suggestions for the party and Biden’s campaign before voters cast their ballots.
In Nevada, a state Biden won by only 2 percentage points in 2020, Chris Wicker, the former chairman of Reno’s Washoe County Democrats, declined to use the word “panic.” But he did convey how members of the party are “concerned” about the president’s chances, exacerbated by how “the shock of inflation lingers.”
