Dem
51
GOP
49
Assuming he sticks with the schedule that was strongly hinted at last week, Joe Biden will make it official today that he's running for president in 2024. He's changed his timeline for this before, however, so we'll see if he actually takes the plunge or if the holding pattern continues for a few more days (or weeks).
Whenever he announces, however, it would seem he's decided on a campaign chair. It is Julie Chávez Rodriguez, who is currently senior advisor and assistant to the president and director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs. Previously, she served as deputy manager of the Biden-Harris campaign in 2020, as state political director for Kamala Harris, in various roles in the Barack Obama administration, and as a community organizer and AFL-CIO staffer.
The selection is something of a masterstroke. One of the criticisms that is leveled at the Democratic Party all the time is that it doesn't do enough to connect with Latino voters. We find it rather difficult to believe that it just hasn't occurred to the blue team to do Latino outreach, so we're never sure exactly what this criticism means, or how it can be addressed. But whatever is going on, picking a Latina campaign manager with a background in community organizing should be pretty helpful.
And on top of that, Biden didn't just pick any Latina with a background in community organizing. He picked a Chávez. Rodriguez is the granddaughter of César, which makes her left-wing royalty. He remains an icon with both Mexican Americans and with labor unionists. Having his granddaughter running a presidential campaign, the first Latino/a ever to do so, should impress both groups. And Biden might just be aware of certain states that are swingy, and that have a large population of Latino trade unionists. Wonder what state might fit that description.
As several more polls released over the weekend indicate, few Democrats are excited about Biden 2024. Undoubtedly, the President would prefer to be beloved, like a Franklin D. Roosevelt or a Ronald Reagan. But that is very rare while someone is actually in the White House, and Biden knows that all you really need is for people to be just enthusiastic enough to show up and vote. A "meh" voter's vote is worth exactly as much as a "thrilled" voter's vote. And Biden continues to make savvy political decisions that are going to help him get the tens of millions of "meh" votes he needs. (Z)