Past Democratic presidents are gearing up to rally around President Joe Biden in an effort to to stir up voter enthusiasm — and cash.
The plans are in their infancy, but they are in motion, NBC News reported, citing aides who said a fundraiser with Biden and former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton may take place in March or April.
The 2024 presidential election is shaping into a 2020 rematch between Biden and former President Donald Trump. Swaths of voters remain unenthused by the rematch, and some are concerned about Biden’s age. He is 81. Trump turns 78 this year. So both men would be octogenarians in their second presidential term.
The proposed campaign fundraiser indicates that Obama and Clinton may agree that Biden needs all the help he can get. While it’s typical for an incumbent president to have an approval rating of less than 50%, Biden’s has spent the last year hovering in the high 30s.
“There is real focus and urgency around making sure we beat Trump,” an unnamed Biden advisor told NBC. “Everyone is all in. And this kind of event early on is just the latest demonstration of that.”
Earlier this month, Obama urged Biden to step up his campaign, becoming “animated” at the idea that Trump may return to power.
Biden’s reelection campaign has stepped up hiring, NBC reported. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have a “very aggressive” upcoming campaign schedule in which Biden will be “out there talking to people individually,” a White House official told NBC.
