Not a Good Sign for Biden: Campaign Off to a Slow Start, Behind Pace of Obama's Re-election

By Victoria Jones May 3, 2023 at 5:03pm

President Joe Biden’s 2024 campaign is way behind that of former President Barack Obama’s during the same point in his 2012 reelection bid, as he currently employs only two full-time staffers.

One of those staffers, his campaign manager Julie Chávez Rodríguez, has not even started yet and will not assume her role for another two weeks, Axios reported.

Rodríguez is the granddaughter of late left-wing union leader Cesar Chávez and she is the current Director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs.

Axios further reported Biden also has not released any fundraising numbers, in spite of a promise to release such information last week.

The campaign now says it will release those numbers by the end of June, after an initial promise they would have become public by April 27.

Biden’s slow start coincides with his slumping poll numbers as many of his voters from the last election have expressed doubts about voting for him a second time.

Sunday, a number of swing-state voters in Pennsylvania who voted for Biden in 2020 expressed reservations about voting for him again in a hypothetical rematch with him running against former President Donald Trump.

Many said they were concerned about his age and also said they were displeased he had not done enough to advance an agenda they wish was more “progressive.”

On the other side of the aisle, Trump announced his bid for a second White House term a week after the midterm elections in November.

Do you think Trump can beat Biden?

Trump has surrounded himself with veteran political operatives, including Jason Miller, who stepped away as the CEO of GETTR for another chance to work with the country’s 45th commander-in-chief.

With a six-month head start, Trump has raised an estimated $55 million for his campaign, The New York Post reported.

Trump received nearly many of those donations after he was indicted in New York on charges of alleged falsifying of business records, Politico reported.

Meanwhile, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida is reported to have a war chest more than double the size of Trump’s.

That is in spite of the fact the second-term governor has yet to declare himself as a candidate.

Last week, the Post reported the 44-year-old had brought in a collective $110 million between his reelection campaign and through PACs that are affiliated with him.

Trump has challenged DeSantis publicly in recent months, signaling he expects the governor to join the race.

According to reports, DeSantis might announce his candidacy within weeks.

Recent polls have shown the former president leading DeSantis by a wide margin.

A poll shared by Rasmussen Reports on Wednesday found that a hypothetical ticket with Trump on the top and DeSantis as his running mate would beat Biden next year by eight points.

The poll showed a Trump/DeSantis ticket defeating a Biden/Harris ticket 51 percent to 43 percent.

Submit a Correction →