2024 Presidential Race: Biden Faces a Different Landscape Than 2020

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President Joe Biden will not have to worry about geese interrupting his speeches when he runs for re-election. This time, he won’t be relying on Zoom or speaking in empty theaters with chairs spaced apart for social distancing. His team won’t need to research the 1918 flu outbreak either to figure out how people will vote during this pandemic.

As the country is slowly getting back on its feet, President Biden can take the Air Force One to attend crowded campaign events, make policy announcements from the White House Rose Garden, and have a major say in both the US presidential race and international affairs. He has recently announced his intention to re-run for president in 2024, pointing out that there is still work to be done before that time. According to a poll conducted by AP-NORC, many Democrats will support him if he does end up running for PRESIDENT in 2024.

The election in 2024 will be very different from the tricky 2020 election, so President Biden won’t be able to stay in the White House using the same methods he used three years ago. Things like holding virtual events from a basement room that he made into a studio, or not going on trips for a long time won’t be effective anymore.

This change brings both positives and negatives for Biden when it comes to his campaign.

Because of lockdowns in 2020, Donald Trump accused Joe Biden of not talking to voters enough. But it also got harder for Biden to excite his supporters. He also missed out on chances for interactions with the public and press that could have resulted in embarrassing or heart-warming moments.

Nicole Brener-Schmitz, a Democratic strategist said that Joe has been greatly benefitted because of the virtual situation this 2020. But Joe can do all the things people usually do in elections like travelling and holding rallies, events, town halls which should not cause any concern to the American public.

Because of the pandemic, campaigns changed. People had to use different ways to connect with politicians and Biden was the only candidate who succeeded in this. His team is using what they learned from 2020 to send better messages to voters.

Last March, Joe Biden had to give a speech online, and he got lost in what he was saying. Two months later, when he was doing another online speech, the Canada geese in his backyard started honking really loudly. Joe joked that they were cheering him on!

Though Biden was always improving the quality of his online posts, Trump’s were getting more attention. So, Biden’s campaign created a podcast for a little while. They also researched voter patterns during an election in 1918 when many people didn’t show up to vote because of the flu outbreak at that time.

Even though he started campaigning again with social distancing rules, drive-in rallies and other small events, Joe Biden usually went back home to sleep in Delaware. After the election was over, Air Force One would either fly him to back to the White House or his house in Delaware.

2020 was a bad year for the President because he wasn’t able to meet people on the campaign trail. But now, with Secret Service protection, it is possible for him to get some time alone with people. Unfortunately, this also means there’s a bigger chance of him saying something he wishes he hadn’t said.

Back in December 2019, a guy from Iowa said Biden was too old for the job and also raised suspicions about his son’s business ventures abroad. Biden responded by calling the man a “bad guy”, and then joking he should have a push-up competition with him – which is something people were often embarrassed by during Biden’s time as Vice President.

At the beginning of 2020, Joe Biden wasn’t doing so well in his campaign. In fact, he lost the first three primary contests and only became the Democratic presidential nominee after the coronavirus started to spread.

At first, he talked about plans that everyone liked, but closer to the election he proposed spending more money for health care, social programs, and the environment. He also promised to help manufacturing companies in the US and make improvements to roads and buildings that were not taken care of.

Last year, President Biden did a lot of the things he promised to do when Democrats were in control of Congress. But not everyone is happy with him now because he has moved away from those ideals and changed his mind on some topics which his supporters think will make them angry.

Norman Solomon, the leader of a group named RootsAction.org which tried convincing Joe Biden not to run for president again, said: “Most people under 30 will ask Joe Biden ‘what happened since last time you ran for president?’.

The 2020 election campaign was special because protests started all across the United States during summer after George Floyd’s death by police brutality and racism injustice. Joe Biden wanted to make a change in criminal justice laws; however, Congress did not approve his request. Because of this, some activists didn’t think enough was done to protect voting rights across the nation.

A poll conducted last week shows that President Biden’s approval rating among African Americans has dropped from 90% to 58%.

Out of the Democrats come out to vote, only half wanted President Biden to run for another term. But most still said they’d support him in next year’s election. Black adults weren’t as enthusiastic though with just 41% wanting him to run and 55% likely to support him. Questions about how well he can do as an 86-year-old if he wins a second term will also be asked since he will be 86 at the end of it.

Being the President is a tough job. You usually have to travel long distances and can get called upon anytime, even in the middle of the night, to address important global issues. Over the next year, Joe Biden will be mostly focused on being a good President as this is what people want him to do if they want him back for four more years at the White House.

This time, Democrats and their supporters won’t be avoiding talking to people in person like they did in 2020 because of all the lockdowns. Instead, they plan to do activities that include knocking on doors to make sure their voters know what’s going on.

Lee Saunders, who is the leader of a group called “American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees”, which has 1.4 million members across the U.S., said they began to do activities to get people to vote in 2020 and are doing it again for 2024. He also mentioned that Democrat party did very well in the last elections, probably due to these efforts, and now they want Biden and his political party’s achievements to be recognized more.

People from all over the country, like labor and allies, elected leaders (White House, governors, mayors etc) have all come together to talk about their victories. Since Biden is now an incumbent president, it will be different if he faces Trump again in 2024 election. Solomon voiced his worry that Biden’s team isn’t taking this seriously– believing they can easily beat Trump again.

Solomon said it could be a problem that Biden is running as the status quo instead of challenging Trump, but Brener-Schmitz noted President Incumbent has benefits such as using Democrats’ nationwide supporter base and infrastructure. She also added Joe Biden excels with this kind of situation.

Hannah Fingerhut, a writer for the Associated Press, helped to write this story.

This report was corrected because they had originally said that Joe Biden’s exchange with a heckler in 2020 happened in New Hampshire when it actually occurred in Iowa.