Philadelphia: President Joe Biden rallied a rowdy group of national Democrats who chanted, "Four more years!" Friday night, sounding like a candidate arguing for a second term. An official announcement was the only thing still lacking, but that isn't anticipated for at least a few weeks.
After a positive jobs report, Biden boasted to the Democratic National Committee about his role in fostering a robust economy and claimed that his administration had made the biggest federal investments in public works, health care, and green technology in decades. He also criticised Republican extremism, saying the party is still too loyal to the Make America Great Again movement of the late President Donald Trump.
I'd like to ask you a quick question. Do you agree with me? Onstage in Philadelphia, a beaming Biden questioned as hundreds of party chiefs from all over the nation shouted, "Four more years! Another four years!" Later, he continued, "America is back and we're leading the world again," to nearly as much applause.
Also Read: VIDEO: Muslims themselves broke mosque, attack on fifth in last 3 months
After a successful midterm election season for his party and as he looks ahead to 2024, with Trump having already declared another run for the White House, Biden has attempted to take the political offensive. Given the increasing demands on Washington, such as the special counsel's investigation into his handling of classified documents and the Republican-controlled House eager to act as a check on Biden and his agenda on Capitol Hill, it is especially crucial.
Vice President Kamala Harris spoke before Biden on Friday night, and she was equally resolute in her criticism of the GOP and its adamant opposition to issues like abortion rights.
There are those who want to halt our forward progress, she said. The extremist, so-called leaders who want to distract and polarise our country by outlawing books, rejecting American history, criminalising doctors and nurses, and undermining the sacred right to vote
Prior to taking the stage at a DNC fundraiser, Harris referred to Democrats' success in keeping control of the Senate during the recent midterm elections and cautioned the smaller audience: "This is not the time to pat ourselves on the back. Now is the time to finish it.
And that will require just as much effort as everyone here put into getting us to this point, if not more," she said. The same reception heard Biden predict that "no matter who is president, things will change radically in the next 15 years." He continued, "Are we going to be leading the pack?" Or will we be the last people left?
On Friday, Biden and Harris visited a water treatment facility in Philadelphia and applauded $15 billion in funding for the removal of lead pipes from service lines across the nation. That originates from a bipartisan infrastructure package that also funds the railroad projects the president has been praising this week.
Basic decency is at stake, according to Biden. "Lead in water is never safe in any amount. None.”
Also Read: Trump requests restraint in support of Ukraine
Next week's State of the Union address has prompted Biden to once again call for political harmony, a goal he has admittedly fallen short of despite his pledges to run for president in 2020. These pleadings, however, haven't stopped Biden from attacking Trump and the MAGA movement.
The Republican agenda is so extreme, Biden continued, that "we have to keep pointing out what the other team wants." "This ain't your father's Republican Party," he added. "These aren't conservatives," he said in reference to Trump supporters.
Because of this, some Democrats are eager to see Biden continue to aggressively tout his accomplishments.
Randi Weingarten, a member of the DNC and the president of the American Federation of Teachers, stated that "the president is trying to solve the problems of the nation on infrastructure, on microchips, on gun safety, on health care." "Compare (that) to the GOP, which seems to have retaliation in mind."
Biden's speech comes the day before the DNC is expected to approve a revised schedule for the presidential primaries beginning in 2019, which would place South Carolina in the leadoff spot in place of Iowa. Georgia and Michigan would come in second, with New Hampshire and Nevada coming in third. The president has advocated this change to give voters of colour more sway in choosing the party's nominee for the White House.
If Biden runs again, the new calendar would largely be meaningless because party elders won't want to oversee a protracted primary against him. While no significant Democratic challenger is believed to be gearing up to run against Biden, Democrats have been steadfastly united in their opposition to the new Republican-controlled House.
The staffing plans and political attacks against Republicans seen as early front-runners for the presidency, such as Trump, who started his campaign in November, and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, have already been made by Biden's advisers in the weeks prior to his official announcement of his intention to run for office again.
Unlike Trump and DeSantis, according to Florida-based DNC member Alan Clendenin, Biden has bolstered the economy, restored US leadership abroad, and promoted inclusive values.
"They foresaw doom and gloom. Clendenin opened a DNC Southern caucus meeting by noting that Florida has started to lag behind other states in important policy areas and making fun of its governor, saying, "That's what happens when you're led by the devil. He's proved them all wrong.
In the lead-up to the midterm elections, Biden repeatedly criticised "extreme MAGA Republicans" as a danger to the country's democracy and admittedly gloated a little on election night.
He was referring to his repeated emphasis on MAGA Republicans last fall when he said, "People looked at me like I was crazy. They are crazy. I'm not crazy.
While this is going on, the president will find it more difficult to promote upcoming legislative successes now that the GOP is in control of the House. Coming partisan disputes may only intensify over raising the nation's legal debt ceiling.
Republican Kevin McCarthy, speaker of the House, stated that he and the White House would keep discussing ways to avert a debt limit crisis. McCarthy, however, said, "The current path we're on we cannot sustain," in reference to federal spending.
However, Biden has also suggested that criticising Republicans alone won't be sufficient, pointing out that Americans without college degrees are becoming less supportive of Democrats. His party "stopped talking to" blue-collar workers, he claimed Friday night.
The president continued, "We have to convince people from the working class to acknowledge them.
Also Read: Australia rejects the new king
Fly, Eagles, fly! Biden exclaimed in a more jocular nod to the upcoming Super Bowl, calling Philadelphians "the most informed, obnoxious fans in the world." That would ostensibly include his ardent Eagles fanatic wife Jill.