Democratic political strategist David Axelrod believes President Joe Biden’s odds of winning re-election are 50/50 at best.
Two weeks ago, Axelrod made headlines when he suggested that Biden should reconsider whether running for re-election is best for the country and for him, an aging grandfather now in his ninth decade of life. That blunt analysis followed a New York Times/Sienna College poll that showed Biden is trailing Donald Trump in five of six key battleground states, all six of which Biden won in 2020.
Biden responded by allegedly calling Axelrod a “prick,” criticism Axelrod shrugged off.
“I don’t care about them thinking I’m a prick — that’s fine,” Axelrod told New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd. “I hope they don’t think the polls are wrong because they’re not.”
More importantly, the man who led Barack Obama to two consecutive White House terms doubled down on his assessment of Biden’s re-election chances. In his interview with Dowd, Axelrod reminded Democrats that not long ago, they nominated a mediocre candidate and believed that victory against Donald Trump was an afterthought.
“I think he has a 50-50 shot here, but no better than that, maybe a little worse,” Axelrod said. “He thinks he can cheat nature here, and it’s really risky.
“They’ve got a real problem if they’re counting on Trump to win it for them. I remember Hillary doing that, too,” he recounted.
Axelrod’s right. The Democratic Party believes that because Biden defeated Trump once, he will do it again. The problem, however, is that Americans have seen the fruit of the Biden agenda — and it has left a sour taste in their mouths.
Biden’s weaknesses, especially on the economy, have allowed Trump to edge Biden in the polls. That is significant because despite remaining in a statistical tie with Biden at the moment, Trump trailed Biden by a notable margin in the run-up to the 2020 election.
With Trump sitting in the driver’s seat — at least right now — Dowd offered Biden blunt advice: Don’t dismiss people like Axelrod.
“[Biden] should not indulge the Irish chip on his shoulder. He needs to gather the sharpest minds in his party and hear what they have to say, not engage in petty feuds,” Dowd wrote in her column.
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Election 2024, Joe biden, Donald trump, Maureen dowd, David axelrod, News