President Joe Biden’s political liabilities have dominated headlines in recent weeks. But vulnerable House Democrats in swing states are sticking by Biden despite private, caucus-wide fretting about his electoral standings.
For example, two Nevada Frontliners — Reps. Susie Lee and Steven Horsford — hailed Biden as a transformative president who has delivered tangible results for the Silver State.
“Biden has been one of the most successful presidents of our lifetime,” Lee told us, citing a solar panel company that recently moved its factory to Nevada due to the Inflation Reduction Act’s subsidies.
“Of course I’ll welcome the president,” Horsford, who chairs the CBC, told us. “He’s worked to cap insulin, to bring down the cost of medications for constituents in my district… as well as leading the biggest job recovery of any president in the first three years of his term.”
And Rep. Matt Cartwright (D-Pa.), a rare House Democrat in a district won twice by former President Donald Trump, said Biden is welcome to stump for him anytime.
Cartwright particularly touted Biden’s infrastructure wins that supported rail service in his region.
“People ought to be pretty happy with Joe Biden in my neck of the woods,” Cartwright told us. Biden, of course, grew up in Cartwright’s district in Scranton, Pa.
At the House Democrats’ issues retreat this month, DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene said she expects Biden to join some vulnerable Democrats on the trail.
“Some are in states like California and New York that are probably not going to be heavily contested on a presidential level,” DelBene said. “Others will be, and so we expect that candidates are going to run campaigns based on what they think is right for their district.”
Notably, this differs from Rep.-elect Tom Suozzi’s (D-N.Y.) strategy of distancing himself from Biden and the national party during his recent special election win. While campaigning, Suozzi even speculated that Biden may drop out before the convention this summer.
The GOP view: Republicans see the willingness of vulnerable Democrats to bear-hug Biden as a political gift. After all, Biden is deep underwater in national approval polls. And the GOP has called the president’s mental acuity into question after Special Counsel Robert Hur’s recent report painted Biden as a forgetful, elderly man.
Here’s Jack Pandol, spokesperson for the House Republicans’ campaign arm:
Stay tuned — We’ll be closely following how Biden interacts with Hill Democrats on the trail this year.
— Max Cohen and Mica Soellner
