Analysis of President Joe Biden’s 2024 Election Strategy and Potential Impact on Democratic Party

President Joe Biden has done something I assumed was almost impossible: He has made the 2024 election more about himself than about former President Donald Trump. A presidential election is usually either a referendum on the sitting president or a choice between two nominees. If it is a referendum and the president is popular and successful, the president and his party generally do well. If the incumbent president is unpopular (for whatever reason), voters usually send a message of dissatisfaction by throwing out the incumbent or punishing his party at the polls.

Biden’s best chance of winning a second term and improving his party’s numbers in Congress would be to frame the election as a choice between a narcissistic, nasty authoritarian who would, if reelected, threaten American democracy (Trump) and an aging president who shuffles when he walks and looks stiff but is kind, empathetic and still capable of running the country (Biden). Unfortunately for Democrats and anti-Trumpers, questions about Biden’s mental capability and age have political handicappers and journalists focusing on Biden’s shortcomings and lapses, not on Trump’s lies and lunacy. Trump, in fact, has become almost invisible over the past 10 days as the national media have become obsessed with Biden’s health, his electability and his vice president’s political future. The only way for Democrats to regain some momentum in the race is to make Trump once again their focus, and the only way to do that is to put Trump under the microscope.

Donald Trump’s narcissistic lying poses a significant threat to democracy as it undermines the trust and credibility of the political system. By spreading falsehoods and misinformation, Trump erodes the foundation of a functioning democracy, where transparency and truth are essential for informed decision-making. Source: Washington Post