China News Network, April 4 (Chen Caixia) On April 25, local time, US President Joe Biden officially announced that he will run for president again.
After months of brewing, the oldest incumbent president in US history has finally announced his re-election campaign and officially joined the "gladiatorial arena" of the 2024 US presidential election. Time has passed, more than two years after taking office, he has once again hit the White House throne, can Biden still succeed this time?
Infographic: US President Joe Biden.
First hurdle:
"Unspeakable 80 years old"
On November 2022, 11, Biden celebrated his 20th birthday, becoming the first incumbent president in U.S. history to turn 80. But since then, he has tried to avoid saying the number in public.
"I can't even say my age," Biden said in an interview. ”
On the 20th, Biden celebrated his 80th birthday with his family. Image source: Screenshot of US First Lady Jill Biden's social media account
Equally unidentified is the fact that if Biden runs for and wins the presidency in 2024, he will be 86 by the end of his second term — a fact that has led many Americans to doubt whether he can continue to do the intense work of the presidency, and some Democrats have even hesitated.
In February 2023, Biden's second medical report during his tenure was "long overdue." Although White House doctor O'Connor believes that Biden is still healthy and energetic, "fit to perform presidential duties", the outside world is more concerned about his "minor problems".
Infographic: Biden speaks at the White House. Photo by China News Agency reporter Chen Mengtong
Conditions such as spondyloarthritis make his walking posture somewhat stiff, and the frequent action of clearing his throat is caused by gastroesophageal reflux.
Biden's slip of the tongue also attracted attention from the outside world, and once he called the name of a congresswoman to the audience, apparently forgetting the fact that she had died.
The New York Times also "poured cold water" on Biden.
The newspaper believes that the 2024 campaign may be different from 2020, when most of Biden's campaign canvassing activities were conducted by video due to the new crown epidemic, and this time it may require a long and arduous national speaking tour.
If Republicans support younger candidates, it would be in stark contrast to Biden's "noticeably slower and stiffer pace."
Second hurdle:
"The worst political crisis of the presidential career"
In addition to the headache of age, at the beginning of 2023, Biden fell into a political storm because of the "secret door".
Democrats not only lost the moral high ground occupied by Trump's involvement in secrets, but also let Republicans, who returned to the House of Representatives, "grab the pigtails."
Since November 2022, 11, a number of classified documents stored in Biden's private home and former office have been exposed one after another, involving US intelligence memoranda and classified information from the Obama administration.
Media vans guard the aisle of President Biden's home in Wilmington, Delaware, January 2023, 1.
In this regard, the Republican Party seized the opportunity and called for an in-depth investigation of Biden. At present, the Ministry of Justice has appointed a special prosecutor to open an investigation.
Biden also ran into bigger trouble than the "secret door". Comer Cott, a Republican who chairs the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, has made the investigation of Biden and his family a "top priority."
House Republicans are expected to open 40 to 50 investigations into the Biden administration, including questions related to Biden's son Hunter and the suppression of negative Biden-related coverage by Democrats.
The Associated Press commented that Republicans are engaged in a "chaotic and explosive political showdown" with the White House, which will affect the 2024 presidential election.
CNN said that Biden is facing the worst political crisis of his presidential career.
Third hurdle:
What are the odds against Trump?
As the 2024 presidential campaign in the United States gradually unfolds, Biden will meet his opponent in the 2020 election, former US President Trump.
For months, Trump has been pre-empting his campaign. Although it did not "stir up too much splash", surprisingly, on March 3, Trump became the first former president in US history to be criminally indicted, and this "sensational" lawsuit brought "dividends" to his campaign.
Infographic: Former US President Trump.
US media said that after Trump was indicted, the party's support rate soared, and the campaign funds raised also increased significantly, now exceeding $3400 million. A joint Reuters-Ipsos poll in early April showed that Trump was on track to reach the Republican presidential primary.
For more than two years, Biden and Trump have been "fighting a war of words" in the air.
Trump "struck hard" and took aim at Biden and his son Hunter, U.S. foreign policy and illegal immigration, saying that "Biden's weakness and incompetence put us on the brink of World War III."
And Biden was not to be outdone, saying on social media that "Trump has failed the United States." He cited Trump's "crimes," including "manipulating the economy for the rich," "inciting a mob" and "having the worst employment record since the Great Depression."
If the two face off again, who will have the last laugh?
Polls offer surprising answers. Due to dissatisfaction with Biden and Trump, most Americans are not interested in the two facing off again in 2024.
According to a joint ABC and Washington Post poll, nearly 60% of Democrats do not want to see Biden get the party nomination again; Nearly half of Republicans also don't want to see Trump become the party's presidential candidate.
The fourth hurdle:
Will voters still buy Biden's account?
In addition to age issues, political turmoil and opponent challenges, whether voters buy it or not is also a big hurdle for Biden's re-election campaign.
On January 2023, 1, on the second anniversary of his inauguration as president, Biden posted on social media that he had "never been more optimistic about the future of the United States."
However, many people don't buy it.
Recent ABC and The Washington Post polls show that Biden's overall performance rating has been at a low point since September 2021.
His approval rating is only 37 percent on economic issues, 38 percent on Ukraine, and as low as 28 percent on immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border.
In his Feb. 2 State of the Union address, although Biden painted a brilliant report card for Americans, popular dissatisfaction with issues such as the economy, jobs, infrastructure and prescription drug prices could lead to almost no belief in the series of achievements he is trying to claim, ABC reported.
Infographic: Biden.
The US "Capitol Hill" even believes that Biden's re-election is encountering "economic headwinds".
The White House and congressional Republicans have been slow to negotiate the debt ceiling, and debt default remains a sword hanging over the Biden administration
· People suffer from high inflation, and despite the decline in unemployment, many still believe that Biden is not "creating more good jobs" in the community
• The pledges he made at the beginning of his presidency to improve U.S. infrastructure have also not been fully fulfilled
With more than 2024 days to go before the 500 U.S. presidential election, the road to the campaign is full of uncertainty. The shape of the Republican camp remains unclear, as are expectations for the US economy. Various factors will continue to stir up the presidential election, and it is still unknown whether Biden can be successfully re-elected. (End)