Biden announces 2024 re-election bid

US President Joe Biden officially launched this Tuesday (25) his candidacy for a second term in Washington in 2024, according to a campaign video posted online. With that, it puts an end to speculation that he would not run, while Donald Trump has always reaffirmed his intentions, even in the face of judicial adversity.

“Every generation has a moment where it must defend democracy. Defend your fundamental freedoms. I believe this is our moment. That’s why I’m running for re-election as President of the United States. Join us. Let’s finish the job,” he wrote on social media.

Biden has cast next year’s race as a fight against Republican extremism, implicitly arguing he needs more time to fully deliver on his promise to restore the nation’s character.

“When I ran for president four years ago, I said we were in a battle for the soul of America. And we still are,” he said in the video, which opened with footage of the January 6, 2021 insurrection and abortion rights activists protesting at the US Supreme Court.

“The question we face is whether in the coming years we will have more freedom or less freedom. More rights, or less,” says Biden. “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 re-election.”

The dispute could evolve into a rematch with his 2020 rival, former President Donald Trump. Shortly after the defeat, Trumpism already had its flags hoisted for a new dispute. As a result, the Republican Party has become hostage to an extremism that has fractured the party internally.

Trump’s presidential candidacy lost steam in the midterm congressional elections, especially after the poor performance of Trump-backed candidates in key states.

current challenges

Biden enters the presidential race with relevant legislative victories, a strong barrier in the House against his ambitions, but the specter of Trumpism in his favor. However, he has low approval ratings.

About half of Democrats are against re-election, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll taken this week. In it, 44% of Democratic respondents said Biden should not run for a second term. Only 41% of respondents approved of his performance as president.

He also faces questions about his advanced age for the position, – he would end the next term at 86 years old -, since the previous dispute. He will run alongside current vice president Kamala Harris, 58.

Should the GOP opt for a different (and younger) candidate, there are solid fears among Democrats that Biden would do well. This hypothesis is still uncertain, as Trump continues to lead far against the other republican options.

As he did in 2020, Biden is appealing to the nation’s ideals, as he knows the average American’s fear of the extremism surrounding Donald Trump. He said extremists are “dictating what health decisions women can make, banning books and telling people who they can love.”

Like Lula, he had the beginning of his term surrounded by threats, electoral denialism and a coup invasion of institutions of the Republic. However, while Lula is celebrated in the American press for having given an efficient response to the attacks, Biden and the Democrats were not able to bury Donald Trump in shame.

The ongoing war in Ukraine and the uncertain economy, with rising inflation, could be obstacles to re-election. The possibility of being able to contract more loans, with authorization from Congress, is also in doubt. Parliaments remain divided, with the largest Republican in the House and one more seat for Democrats in the Senate.

But Biden will have an ambitious agenda of accomplishments to show in relation to financing against the covid-19 pandemic, investing in infrastructure, domestic production of semiconductor chips and advances in climate change, as well as the resumption of international agreements and partnerships. Themes that attacked Trump’s own promises, which were nothing more than rhetoric for Make America Great Again.

Trajectories

Joe Biden has been in public life since 1969, when he began his political career as a Delaware county councilor. Three years later, in 1972, at the age of 29, he won elections for the country’s Senate for the first time and became one of the youngest people to hold the office of senator in the United States. The president was Richard Nixon, and the country was still three years out of the Vietnam War.

After that, Biden was re-elected five more times, until he took over as vice president on Barack Obama’s ticket in 2008. He held positions as elected representative between 1969 and 2017.

Graduated in law and former attorney for the district of San Francisco and the state of California, Kamala Harris projected herself by questioning, in Senate hearings, nominees by Trump for the positions of Supreme Court judge and Secretary of Justice.

Harris was born into an immigrant family: her mother is Indian, a cancer researcher, and her father is Jamaican, an economics professor.