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‘Fight for soul is on’: Biden announces his re-election bid
Claiming that the future of democracy and personal freedom was at stake, projecting himself as a candidate of moderation and fairness against “extremism”, and suggesting that he still had a job to finish, Joe Biden, the president of the United States (US), announced on Tuesday that he will stand for re-election in the 2024 presidential polls
Claiming that the future of democracy and personal freedom was at stake, projecting himself as a candidate of moderation and fairness against “extremism”, and suggesting that he still had a job to finish, Joe Biden, the president of the United States (US), announced on Tuesday that he will stand for re-election in the 2024 presidential polls.
In a three-minute-four-second video, released on his personal Twitter handle on Tuesday morning, interspersed with iconic moments of his tenure and everyday interactions with citizens, Biden formally inaugurated his much-anticipated presidential campaign. Vice-president Kamala Harris, who is of mixed Indian and African-American heritage, will be his running mate in the next election as well.
“When I ran for President four years ago, I said we are in a battle for the soul of America and we still are. The question we are facing is whether in the years ahead, we have more freedom or less freedom, more rights or fewer. I know what I want the answer to be and I think you do too. This is not the time to be complacent. That’s why I am running for re-election,” Biden announced.
While incumbents have traditionally had an advantage when they seek a second term, Biden is already the oldest president in American history. If he succeeds in winning a second term, he will be 86 by the end of his final presidential tenure, sparking concerns even among his supporters about whether his health will become an election issue. But with a strong legislative record, success in midterm elections last November, and the absence of any strong alternatives, Biden successfully positioned himself as the Democratic presidential candidate in recent months.
The Republican field, however, remains wide open. Former president Donald Trump, former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley (who is Indian-American), former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson, and the Indian-American entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy have already announced their candidature. Florida governor Ron DeSantis and former vice-president Mike Pence are expected to announce their intent to run soon. But the contest is widely seen as a face-off between Trump, who currently leads the polls, and DeSantis. If Trump wins the nomination and competes against Biden, it will be the first time since 1956 that the same two candidates will compete against each in a second election in a row.
Responding to the announcement, Trump alleged that Biden had done more “damage” to America than the “five worst presidents” in American history put together. He accused Biden of presiding over inflation, corruption, failing banks, a crashing dollar, illegal immigration, weaponising law enforcement against conservatives, indoctrination of children “by left wing freaks and zealots”, and humiliation of the nation on world stage.
Biden’s announcement video, paid for by the Democratic National Committee, opened with shots of the Capitol on January 6, 2021, when right-wing mobs encouraged by Trump stormed the US Congress to block the certification of the presidential election results. This was the first time in American history that the fundamental democratic tenet of peaceful transfer of power was interrupted. And the image showed that Biden’s campaign will continue to define itself sharply in opposition to who he has termed as MAGA (Make America Great Again) Republicans.
As images played out in the background, Biden said, “Freedom. Personal freedom is fundamental to who we are as Americans. I have spent the work of my first term to fight for our democracy, to protect our rights, to make sure that everyone in this country is treated equally and that everyone is given a fair short at making it.”
But, he added, around the country, “MAGA extremists” were lining up to take on those bedrock freedoms. “Cutting social security that you have paid for your entire life while cutting taxes for the very wealthy. Dictating what health care decisions women can make. Banning books and telling people who they can love. All while making it more difficult for you to vote.”
Biden’s reference was to five key issues that will mark the Democratic campaign against Republicans.
During his State of Union speech earlier this year, and in the ongoing negotiations over the debt ceiling with Republican-controlled House, Biden has consistently accused his opponents of seeking to reduce social security and health care benefits, while framing himself as the leader who is for the ordinary middle class and working class citizen and expects the rich to pay their “fair share of taxes”.
His reference to dictating the decisions of women played out with images of protests around abortion in the background. With the Supreme Court overturning Roe v Wade verdict, there is no longer any national protection for abortion, enabling Republican states to impose outright bans or deeply restrictive provisions on women’s right to choose. This issue has galvanised the Democratic base, as well as women and the young across party lines. Biden has framed it as both a rights-based and a public health-based issue.
Biden’s reference to banning books and restrictions on love was meant to signal his opposition to Republican-governed states which have sought to impose restrictions on pedagogy around race and gender studies and have passed a spate of anti-LGBTQI legislations. And his allusion to voting rights echoes his party’s allegation that through restrictive voting provisions, Republicans are seeking to curtail the ability of poorer and Black voters to exercise their franchise.
Biden, who first became a Senator in 1973, has often positioned himself as an everyday American who understands the struggles of citizens. In the video, he said he was running again because he knows America. “I know we are good and decent people. I know we are still a country that believes in honesty and respect. And treating each other with dignity. That we are a nation where we give hate no safe harbour. We believe everyone is equal and everyone should be given a fair shot to succeed in the country.” As Biden made the remarks, the video played images of Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman nominated to be a Supreme Court judge in 2022.
Framing the electoral contest as a defining battle for this generation, Biden echoed a talking point he had used in the 2020 presidential polls and 2022 midterm polls as well. “Every generation in America has faced a moment when they have to defend democracy, stand up for personal freedom; stand up for the right to vote and our civil rights. And this is our moment.”
