(NewsNation) — President Joe Biden said in a reelection campaign announcement Tuesday he wants to “finish the job” he was elected to do two years ago. But with his approval ratings largely underwater, what exactly is that job?
That was the question for a panel of political analysts on “The Hill on NewsNation” who discussed Biden’s reelection campaign.
“I think Biden is looking at this in the sense of finish the job and keep Trump out of office,” said Johanna Maska, a former Obama administration official.
Maska worked on his 2008 campaign along with Cyrus Garrett, who later served as an adviser for Biden’s 2020 campaign.
Garrett believes the 2024 election will be all about framing, which he says began with Biden’s announcement video. The opening frames were of the riots at the U.S. Capitol in 2021.
“Elections are about questions, and the way that the White House started off is framing this around a question of what did you hire me to do, here’s the progress I’ve made on it now, let’s move this forward to the next stage of this run,” he said. “I think the way that they filmed it was so that it was accessible on multiple platforms and in multiple different ways.”
One of the biggest questions Biden faces is his age. Now 80, the president would be 82 at the time of his inauguration if reelected, and 86 at the end of a second term.
“This is the benefit they have, because what most voters question is not about the president. They know the kind of the job he’s done. They recognize that what is most important is whether or not there’s a VP in place to step into the job if you were not able to finish out,” Garrett said of Biden’s age. “That’s where you see the administration really taking (steps) to put (Kamala Harris) in positions in places of leadership now to demonstrate that she is ready to lead.”
As for his record, Biden touts the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act as major legislative achievements. Republicans argue Democratic spending has worsened already-high inflation.
Bob Cusack, editor-in-chief of The Hill, says all these issues are likely to play a role in the campaign.
“There’s no doubt the Democrats had a good year legislatively in 2022, and that’s part of the reason they did they did OK in the midterms and beat expectations,” he said. “But those (approval) numbers are not good. They’ve got to turn those numbers around.”
Watch the full discussion with the panel in video player above.