Biden launches 2024 reelection campaign, promising to fulfill economic policy vision

President Joe Biden on Tuesday launched his reelection bid, as he seeks to win over Americans who are tired of stubbornly high inflation or worried about his ability to serve a second term in the White House.

“When I ran for President four years ago, I said we are in a battle for the soul of America. And we still are. The question we are facing is whether in the years ahead we have more freedom or less freedom. More rights or fewer,” Biden, 80, says in a video announcing his campaign. “I know what I want the answer to be and I think you do, too. This is not a time to be complacent. That’s why I’m running for reelection.”

If Biden won a second term, he would extend his streak as the oldest person to sit in the Oval Office: He would be 82 on Inauguration Day 2025. Despite concerns about his age among Democrats, no serious opposition to Biden has emerged, even as the Republican field grows larger.

Polling shows Democrats prefer a candidate other than Biden, but there isn’t a consensus on who that alternative would be. An NBC News poll released Sunday found 70% of Americans, including 51% of Democrats, believe Biden should not seek a second term. Half of voters who don’t want Biden to run say his age is a “major” factor.

Still, Biden’s first-term accomplishments, combined with Democrats’ stronger-than-expected showing in the midterms and the early declaration by former President Donald Trump, have bolstered Biden’s image as a safe bet. Trump seeks his third GOP presidential nomination while facing criminal charges in New York, under several other criminal probes and just over two years removed from House impeachment on charges that he incited an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Biden had an eventful first half of his term. The Covid-19 pandemic was still in full swing when he assumed office, as much of the country worked from home and coronavirus vaccine distribution had just started. He heralded legislative efforts to pour trillions into the U.S. economy to stave off a post-pandemic recession — though his efforts to reimagine the U.S. social safety net hit a wall in Congress.

Biden was able to accomplish many of his ambitious campaign goals with the help of a Democratic-controlled Congress for the first half of his term. He was able to push through the sprawling pandemic relief plan, a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure law and the $430 billion Inflation Reduction Act — all within the first 20 months of his term.

Article source: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/04/25/joe-biden-announces-2024-reelection-campaign.html