President Biden has been long known as a walking gaffe machine, a problem that has only gotten worse since he took office. His inability to deliver off-the-cuff remarks in the Oval Office was so bad that White House staff built a fake West Wing set in a nearby auditorium where a teleprompter could be permanently installed.
He got caught on a hot mic calling Fox News Channel's White House reporter Peter Doocy a "stupid son of a b***h." While in Europe, Biden called for regime change in Russia. In another speech, Biden contradicted long-standing U.S. policy toward Taiwan. Biden's aides routinely have to scramble to explain Biden's words weren't actually what he meant. And all of it is apparently getting to the commander in chief who is frustrated with questions over whether or not he'll run for a second term in 2024.
Thanks to a new report from Politico, we have another clue of how frustrated he's getting with questions about his age and fitness to serve as president beyond his current term. Suggesting that Biden hasn't announced any decision about his plans for 2024 and beyond because "he doesn't want to trigger the Federal Election Committee, which may require him to file organizational paperwork if he was to say definitely he's running," Politico notes that Biden has also claimed to have not made up his mind yet and is still discussing the matter with his family.
Still, Biden "has vented to allies about how often his age is mentioned in the press," and rhetorically questioned “[y]ou think I don’t know how f*****g old I am?" earlier this year, per Politico. In interviews, Biden has been asked about his age but his response has always been some variation of "watch me." Clearly, Biden is not thrilled that his age has become a major factor for those watching for him to announce a decision.
Well, America has watched, and what's been seen of Biden has not been confidence-inspiring or reassuring. Biden's fellow Democrats have also been watching, and Politico's report also noted that there's been some posturing by other potential 2024 presidential candidates:
Earlier this month, Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), whose 2020 White House bid ran out of cash, convened about 100 of his donors for a gathering at the Hotel Eaton in Washington. Booker brought Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, herself a potential presidential hopeful, to speak to the contributors.
Booker told his backers that, while he wouldn’t challenge Biden in 2024, he wants to be ready and that his career has been marked by unexpected opportunities, according to an attendee. Political documentary aficionados will recall from “Street Fight,” of course, that Booker hasn’t always waited on incumbents to step down.
Now, though, he’s dutifully supporting the incumbent and will have clean hands should Biden decline to run or exit the race.
However, there’s a risk for Democrats like Booker, the other also-rans from 2020 as well as the would-be 2024 candidates currently frozen by Biden: Should the president run again and win, they may have lost their moment by 2028.
By then, there will be a new crop of Democratic stars eyeing the White House.
It was easy to catch a glimpse of this generational combat-in-waiting two weekends ago in New Orleans, where the Democratic Governors Association met for their annual post-election meeting.
There was outgoing DGA chief and North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper — whose term expires after 2024 and whose allies are ravenously eyeing the South Carolina-first primary calendar like a whole hog bbq sandwich. Also present was Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, reelected in a walk and poised to enjoy a governing trifecta in Lansing before her own state’s early primary position.
Yet there were also two new governors-elect, Wes Moore and Josh Shapiro, who just rolled to victory in Maryland and Pennsylvania, respectively, and offered stirring remarks about their vision.
And that was just at the conference’s opening press conference.
Also widely thought to be considering runs in the DGA ranks are Govs. Gavin Newsom of California, Jared Polis of Colorado, J.B. Pritzker of Illinois and Phil Murphy of New Jersey.