TTC Editor’s Note: Was there really a coalition that helped Biden win in 2020? Or was the election stolen, and Democrats know it, so it will be very difficult to steal the 2024 election without getting caught?
Democrats are in survival mode in trying to rebuild the coalition that helped President Biden win the White House in 2020, working to bring critical voters back to the fold at this point rather than substantially trying to grow the base.
The strategy is unfolding in part from Biden’s travel patterns and appearances. This week, he visited two states that were pivotal to his victory, Michigan and Wisconsin. But he’s also spent considerable time in Democratic strongholds like New York and California and is next expected to spend time in Phoenix and Las Vegas, home to two other closely-watched states in 2024.
In Washington, D.C., he met with the Teamsters to try and sway them to officially endorse him, in an effort to lock in more critical support from a major labor union, a contingent of workers he often lauds as having bolstered his political career.
The efforts mark a broader plan to stitch back together a path for victory in 2024 in a race that has Biden running neck-and-neck with former President Trump.
“It’s a smart focus, it’s a smart strategy,” said former Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.), who chaired the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “In electoral politics, you can’t win by losing and so you start with your critical battlegrounds and then expand your infrastructure and visibility.”
The campaign’s focus on Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania is in large part because of their large Black communities, which the campaign sees as essential to shoring up the base. Biden traveled to Atlanta last week— another area where Black voters are a major bloc.
The president has been endorsed by most major unions, including the United Auto Workers after making history by joining their picket line last year, but still has yet to get the Teamsters endorsement.
Biden’s meeting with the Teamsters this week was paired with the major nod he gave to U.S. workers on Thursday by pushing back against the potential sale of U.S. Steel to Nippon Steel of Japan. The potential sale raised alarms among Pennsylvanians about threats to union workers’ jobs.
