(AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta).
FILE – President Joe Biden and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, at right, campaign in the IBEW Local Union No. 5 union hall, Pittsburgh, on Labor Day 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
WASHINGTON, D.C. (AP) – President Joe Biden has made a rare leap into the political fray of 2024 after taking a step away from his reelection campaign.
He will campaign in Pennsylvania on Tuesday for a close friend and visit Wisconsin to highlight a landmark legislative achievement.
As Biden makes his quick swing through the key state, two Democratic Senators locked in a competitive reelection campaign are taking a markedly different approach to the outgoing President, whose approval rating in a large swath in the country remains in the pits.
Biden will be fully welcomed by Democratic Sen. Bob Casey at an evening fundraiser in Philadelphia in support of the senior Pennsylvania Senator. In Milwaukee, where Biden will highlight his administration’s efforts in replacing the nation’s toxic, lead pipes, Tammy Baldwin, the incumbent Democratic Senator, will be conspicuously missing.
“Democrats in tight elections, for the majority, calculate that the risk of embracing Biden’s efforts far exceeds the reward that his campaign would bring,” said Christopher Borick. He is the director of the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion, in Pennsylvania. “There are few places where he could be of great help to Democrats in competitive elections.”
Biden has barely spent any time on the campaign trail after ending his reelection bid in July. It is therefore all the more noteworthy that he made stops in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, two states that are hotly contested and which Vice President Kamalah Harris and former President Donald Trump consider crucial.
Casey and Baldwin’s races were also seen as must wins for Democrats trying to maintain their razor tight control of the Senate.
Biden, who dropped out of the race, promised to do a lot of campaigning for Harris and Democrats. As the campaign season progressed, he has largely remained on the sidelines. He’s remained an imperfect surrogate for Harris.
Casey has had a longstanding relationship with Biden, even though he faces a tough challenge from Republican David McCormick in his bid for a fourth Senate term.
Casey grew on the same street in Scranton as Biden. Their families have been friends for decades. Casey has campaigned with Biden many times, including this year. Biden, a Delaware resident who is a Pennsylvania native, has claimed Pennsylvania for many years.
Biden is still a target of skepticism, and his popularity has fallen amid skepticism about rising costs, and doubts that he can do the job at 81.
Monmouth University’s poll, published in late September, found that 4 out of 10 voters had a positive view of Biden. About 6 out 10 had a negative view.
According to her campaign office and Senate office, Baldwin will spend Tuesday in Wisconsin on the opposite side from Biden, where she will attend campaign events and receive an award.
Eli Rosen, Baldwin’s communications director, responded to a question about why Baldwin was not at the President’s visit. “Senator Baldwin has a previously planned event at a farm in Eau Claire, to receive the American Farm Bureau Federation’s ‘Friend of Farm Bureau’ award recognizing her commitment to fighting for America’s hardworking producers, growers and farmers,” Rosen said.
According to a recent Marquette University Law School survey, Biden’s favorability has been hovering around 40% in Wisconsin for the past year. It did not increase when he dropped out of his presidential race this summer.
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