US President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced his reelection campaign for 2024 US presidential election. Donald Trump remains his main opponent as of now.
Vice President Kamala Harris will be Biden's running mate. The formal announcement brings the United States to a rematch of sorts of the 2020 election in which Biden-Harris defeated Trump and his running mate Mike Pence.
Biden's reelection bid comes after days of speculations and rounds of concerns over his age and low approval ratings.
We are in a battle for America's soul: Biden
Sharing a promotional campaign video, Biden wrote, "Every generation has a moment where they have had to stand up for democracy. To stand up for their fundamental freedoms. I believe this is ours. That’s why I’m running for reelection as President of the United States."
"Freedom, personal freedom is fundamental to who we are as Americans. That's been 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 shot at making it," says Biden in voiceover in the promotional video that starts with clips of US Capitol attack and abortion rights movement.
Biden further says that "MAGA extremists" are taking away fundamental freedoms that make Americans who they are. MAGA refers to the "Make America Great Again", a slogan popularised by Trump and used by his supporters as a rallying call.
In US electoral system, candidates first have to secure nominations within their party and then they contest the presidential election with the candidate from the other party. There is no serious challenger so far in the Democratic Party and Biden is expected to smoothly secure his party's nomination.
"But, you know, around the country, MAGA extremists are lining up to take those bedrock freedoms. Cutting social security that you have paid for your entire life, while cutting taxes for the very wealthy, dictating what healthcare decisions women can make, banning books, and telling people who they can love, all the while making it more difficult for you to be able to vote," said Biden.
He further said, "When I ran for President four years ago, I said we were in a battle for the soul of America and we still are...That's why I am running for reelection."
Reiterating Biden's pitch that their reelection bid is a bid to save democracy, Harris tweeted, "As Americans, we believe in freedom and liberty—and we believe that our democracy will only be as strong as our willingness to fight for it. That’s why Joe Biden and I are running for reelection."
How things stand for Biden
In the US electoral system, a person has to secure the nomination within their own party first. Then they face the other party's candidate in the presidential election. Biden does not have any serious challenger in the Democratoc Party.
Among the Republicans, Donald Trump is the main figure so far. However, Vivek Ramaswamy and Nicky Hailey have also announced their presidential bids among other leaders. Florida Governor Ron DeSentis is also considered a potential candidate and some quarters say he could actually seriously challenge Trump in the race to secure Republican nomination.
Though Biden's standing is secure in the Democatic Party, he is plagued by low ratings and grim polls.
A poll published in March found that only little over a third of Democratic Party voters want Biden in a second term.
The Associated Press reported in March that only 37 per cent of Democrats wanted Biden to seek a second term, according to a poll by AP and NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. The percentage was down from 52 per cent in the weeks before last year's mid-term elections in which Democrats defeated the Republican Party's expected Red Wave.
Polling and election news site FiveThirtyEight reports that Biden currently has just 42.1 per cent approval rating.
At this time in presidency, Obama had the rating of 45.6 per cent, Bush 67.8, and Clinton of 51.8, according to FiveThirtyEight. These are the presidents that won second terms.
