Democratic strategists and politicians are concerned that voter enthusiasm for down-ballot candidates isn’t carrying over to the leader of the party, President Biden, according to a new report.
Political orthodoxy holds that a strong national leader helps the rest of the party by association, but in Biden’s case the opposite appears to be true: Democrats prevented a Republican landslide in the 2022 midterms and have since won other races — including picking up former Rep. George Santos’ vacated House seat in New York — despite the president’s growing unpopularity.
“There’s a disconnect between the successes we’re having locally and in specials, and the environments we’re experiencing at and near the top of the ticket,” former New York Rep. Steve Israel told Politico on Thursday.
“It is the fundamental challenge confronting Democrats right now: Why are we doing as well as we’re doing on the ground, in local and state elections, but we still have this very tight polling at the presidential?” Israel asked.
ANTI-TRUMP FIGURES, DEMOCRATS ALSO QUESTIONING BIDEN’S MENTAL FITNESS FOR OFFICE
Democratic voters are succeeding in down-ballot races but are less enthusiastic about the leader of the party, President Biden, according to a new report. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
“Democrats are enthusiastic about trying to win the Senate and trying to win the House,” Democratic political strategist Neil Oxman said, but they’re “not enthusiastic about Biden’s reelection.”
While former President Trump and Biden’s relative popularity has fluctuated over the past few months, Trump has largely maintained a narrow lead over Biden nationally for the first half of 2024.
However, a Fox News national survey taken in May found Biden to be the current frontrunner in a hypothetical match-up against Trump, as voters indicate more optimism about the economy.
Many Democrats still express concern over Biden’s position at the head of the party, however, especially as the presidential election nears. Some Democrats have publicly pointed to concerns around Biden’s age and mental acuity as a serious cause for worry among voters.
“You can’t ignore the truth and that people have concerns about his stage of life,” Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., told Politico. Phillips ran an unsuccessful campaign to dislodge Biden as the Democratic Party’s eventual presidential nominee, but dropped out in early March.
“I would argue that it’s time to lean into that and to be self-deprecating and to start focusing on what people really care a lot about, which is economic security and personal safety,” Phillips said.
Phillips was an outspoken critic of Biden during his campaign, often calling attention to the president’s age. Phillips said in February that Biden’s “decline” was clear after Special Counsel Robert Hur’s report found that the president was struggling to remember key details and events, including when he served as vice president and the exact date his son Beau died.
“You can’t ignore the truth and that people have concerns about his stage of life,” Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., said. Phillips ran an unsuccessful campaign to dislodge Biden as the Democratic Party’s frontrunner, dropping out in early March. (AP Photo)
Rep. Tom Suozzi, a Democrat who replaced Santos in February, said Biden faces an “enthusiasm gap” with voters.
“We passed the biggest climate change act in the history of America after people ignored it for 40 years, and the president led the way on that, and nobody really knows that,” Suozzi told Politico. “And former President Trump is saying to the oil companies ‘help me raise a billion dollars and I’m gonna roll back all this stuff.'”
“I mean, if young people knew that, I think we could get some of that enthusiasm gap back,” Suozzi said.
A Biden campaign spokesperson told Politico that many voters are not yet fully “tuned into the presidential race.”
“It’s going to take intensive time and effort to reach the voters who are going to decide the election who are not paying attention yet,” Biden campaign spokesperson Mia Ehrenberg told Politico. “And the Biden-Harris campaign is putting in the disciplined, persistent, long-term work that’s needed to do it.”
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The Trump and Biden campaigns did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
Fox News’ Dana Blanton contributed to this report.
