President Biden is hitting the road again – leaving Washington for the second time this week while defending his top priority in the early days of his government – a $ 1.9 trillion COVID aid package.
Biden visited Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing facility on Friday near Kalamazoo, Michigan. Increased vaccination is a crucial element in the president’s recovery plan. The parade came two days after the president held a town hall meeting in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Wednesday, where Biden pushed his proposal, which resulted in the Republican Party’s resistance to the price.
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Michigan and Wisconsin are also crucial battleground states, where Biden narrowly overtook then President Trump in his presidential election victory.
President Joe Biden visits a Pfizer factory, Friday, February 19, 2021, in Portage, Michigan (AP Photo / Evan Vucci)
This week’s itinerary has some political analysts wondering if a 2024 re-election is on the mind of the president and his political advisers.
But a longtime Democratic strategist and veteran of presidential campaigns said these trips are all about getting the rescue package approved – with perhaps a touch of 2022 midterm election policy added.
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“These states tick several boxes. You have unemployment numbers slightly above the national average. In Wisconsin, there are disputes for the Senate and for governor that are going to heat up. There are political reasons and real policy reasons, and the bailout package resonates in that. the rust belt in the midwest states in a particular way, “noted the strategist, who asked to remain anonymous to speak more freely.
As for 2024, the consultant said, “I don’t think that’s the main problem for them.”
There has been widespread speculation since Biden launched his 2020 presidential campaign, almost two years ago, that he could serve only one term. Biden made history last year as the oldest person ever elected president – and if he ran for re-election and won, he would be 82 at the time of his second term.
But a longtime ally and supporter of Biden says the president is “planning to run again”.
Senator Chris Coons of Delaware told Politico days before last month’s inauguration that Biden “knows that we are in the midst of an absolute turnaround, a pivotal point in American history. And he is up for the challenge.”