“For the Biden campaign, in Donald Trump they have an almost existential threat.”

“They want to shift the dynamics of the race to be about the threat that their opponent poses,” Bedingfield said. Obama campaign veterans hold key roles in Biden’s political operation, from White House senior adviser Anita Dunn, who worked in the Obama White House, to Chavez Rodriguez, a former Obama campaign volunteer and administration official.Īnother, Kate Bedingfield, who was deputy campaign manager for Biden’s 2020 campaign and then White House communications director, said presidents always want to “make the campaign about their opponent and not their own record.” That is because governing means making compromises that can be sometimes harder to communicate in ways that resonate with voters, she said. In 2012, Americans were sharply divided over Obama’s signature accomplishment, the health care law often called “Obamacare,” though it is now viewed more positively.īiden's aides also point to low unemployment and other signs of economic strength, although polls show Americans don't feel the economy is strong and they rate Biden poorly on the issue. Biden has a record of legislative accomplishments on popular issues such as infrastructure. The dynamics of the 2024 race are also different from 2012. Biden, though, is working to prioritize unconventional ways to reach voters in line with significant shifts in Americans’ media consumption habits, particularly about political issues. Obama’s 2012 campaign relied heavily on grassroots organizing and television ad spending to motivate voters. “We’re going to do the work to ensure voters understand the enormous stakes of next year’s election.” “Next year’s election will be a choice between President Biden’s proven track record of lowering costs and delivering for middle class families, and Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans’ bleak vision of dividing us,” Biden campaign spokesman Ammar Moussa said, referring to Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement. Biden’s campaign says defining clear contrasts between the president and Trump is key to its strategy. Trump's campaign did not respond to messages seeking comment. “If Trump wasn’t running, I’m not sure I’d be running,” Biden said. Biden's campaign has in recent weeks blasted Trump’s suggestions that he wouldn’t rule as a dictator “other than Day 1,' that he would again pursue a repeal of Obama's health care overhaul, and that he would stage massive raids to try to deport millions of people.īiden recently told a crowd of donors in Massachusetts, “We’ve got to get it done.

Abortion was an issue credited with helping the party exceeding expectations in last year’s midterms and several races this year.Īfter spending much of his presidency declining to refer to Trump by name, Biden has stepped up his warnings about his predecessor. They say Biden should play up parts of his own record and focus on abortion rights after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Some prominent Democrats have suggested that there’s a danger in making the race too much about Trump.

“I think Trump is an entirely different, nonlinear opponent compared to an Obama vs. “You can’t really run a playbook for the last election, or what worked previously,” said Kevin Madden, a Republican strategist who was Romney’s 2012 senior adviser and spokesman.

And even as Trump's promises to seek retribution and references to his enemies as “vermin” animate many Democrats, Biden faces low approval ratings and questions about his age and his handling of the economy and foreign affairs. Bush was successful against Democratic nominee John Kerry, then a Massachusetts senator.īut Trump, the current front-runner for the Republican nomination, is already better defined than perhaps any figure in U.S. In 2012, Obama and his allies did it with Republican Mitt Romney, a former Massachusetts governor and current Utah senator. It's a time-worn strategy of White House incumbents to try to negatively define their rivals in the public's eyes. It's unclear whether that blueprint will work for Biden, given that Trump is already so well-defined a political figureīiden is trying to focus the campaign on former President Donald Trump's comments and policy proposals, sometimes more than his own.Bush each used that script against their reelection rivals, and each won a second term It's a strategy that's aimed at reminding voters about the confrontational nature of Trump’s first term and laying out what could happen if the front-runner for the 2024 Republican nomination returns to the White House.For President Joe Biden, a centerpiece of his reelection campaign is trying to negatively define Donald Trump in the public's eye.

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