An Emboldened Biden Weighs Whether to Run for President Again in 2024 - The New York Times

WASHINGTON — These are heady days for President Biden. The midterm elections offered long-sought validation. Democrats held onto the Senate, and adjacent if they suffer the House it volition beryllium by a constrictive margin. The Republicans are successful retreat and, by the way, truthful are the Russians and, conscionable a spot astatine least, truthful is inflation.

The president’s chap Democrats are flocking to cameras to springiness him credit. “This triumph belongs to Joe Biden,” Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, his onetime rival, said connected NBC’s “Meet the Press” connected Sunday. His advisers dependable astir giddy, utilizing words similar “miracle” and “biblical” to picture the election.

But adjacent arsenic the history-defying midterms went a agelong mode toward solving immoderate of the president’s contiguous governmental problems, they did not miraculously marque him immoderate younger. A week from Sunday, Mr. Biden, the oldest president successful American history, volition crook 80, a milestone the White House has nary plans to observe with fireworks oregon splashy parties. And truthful Mr. Biden confronts a prime that inactive leaves galore successful his enactment softly uncomfortable: Should helium tally for a 2nd term?

Top advisers specified arsenic Ron Klain, Anita Dunn, Mike Donilon, Steven J. Ricchetti and Jennifer O’Malley Dillon are already gathering to representation retired what a 2024 run would look like. The president said past week that helium “intends” to tally but would speech with his household implicit the holidays and denote a determination aboriginal adjacent year. He volition lone beryllium much motivated assuming erstwhile President Donald J. Trump jumps into the contention connected Tuesday nighttime arsenic expected.

“Even earlier the midterms, Biden was moving up of Donald Trump,” said Senator Chris Van Hollen, Democrat of Maryland. “Now you’ve got Biden, helium has the upwind down his back, he’s gotten a assistance from doing amended than expected, portion Trump is evidently portion of a Republican Party meltdown. When you look astatine it successful that frame, Biden has emerged successful a stronger position.”

Unspoken is the world that Democrats person an unproven seat down Mr. Biden. Many enactment operatives are profoundly disquieted that Vice President Kamala Harris could not win. While determination are galore different would-be contenders, nary of them has impressed the president capable for him to consciousness comfy turning the enactment implicit to them.

Some Democrats reason that this is simply a concern of Mr. Biden’s ain making, having failed to successfully groom a imaginable successor, consciously oregon not making himself the indispensable man. But either way, it leaves galore Democrats circling backmost to the decision that Mr. Biden remains the party’s champion choice.

“Boy, helium virtually had the Democratic Party crossed the state astatine each level, state, local, congressional, it had the champion midterms of immoderate Democratic president since J.F.K.,” said Senator Chris Coons, a Democratic state from Delaware, the president’s location state. “It’d beryllium hard not to look astatine that and say, ‘OK, there’s inactive a role, there’s inactive a path, there’s inactive important things to do.’”

The elections, however, were arsenic overmuch a testament to Republican weakness arsenic an denotation of Mr. Biden’s strength. According to an aggregate of surveys tracked by the governmental website FiveThirtyEight, Mr. Biden’s mean 41.5 percent support standing remains little astatine this constituent successful his word than that of each 13 presidents astatine akin points going backmost to Harry S. Truman (albeit lone somewhat little than Mr. Trump’s was astatine this stage).

One House Democrat who won re-election past week said the party’s occurrence should not beryllium viewed arsenic a validation of the president. Mr. Biden’s numbers were “a immense drag” connected Democratic candidates, who won successful spite of the president not acknowledgment to him, the lawmaker said connected the information of anonymity to debar antagonizing the White House.

RootsAction.org, a left-leaning advocacy radical that supported Senator Bernie Sanders, the socialist autarkic from Vermont, successful the 2016 and 2020 primaries, hardly waited until the polling booths closed connected Tuesday earlier kicking disconnected a “Don’t Run Joe” run to unit the president to measurement aside.

Norman Solomon, the group’s nationalist director, noted that Democrats won with higher numbers than Mr. Biden’s support ratings, meaning they outperformed their leader.

“It mightiness look counterintuitive successful the lack of a ‘red wave,’ but Biden is really an albatross astir the cervix of his party,” Mr. Solomon said. “Voters prevented catastrophe successful the midterms contempt Biden, not due to the fact that of him. In effect, he’s promising to beryllium a resistance connected the enactment and its prospects heading into 2024.”

While past presidents marked large birthdays with lavish spectacles — Bill Clinton celebrated his 50th with 20,000 supporters astatine Radio City Music Hall; Barack Obama partied connected his 50th with Tom Hanks, Stevie Wonder and Jay-Z — Mr. Biden has not made akin plans for adjacent Sunday, erstwhile helium becomes an octogenarian. Aides said they had not intentionally avoided a nationalist display, but simply had not had clip fixed the midterms and the president’s existent trip overseas.

Mr. Biden has said property is simply a morganatic origin for voters to see portion maintaining that helium is successful large shape. Despite occasional verbal stumbles, helium has made a constituent of showcasing his stamina by pursuing a agelong of cross-country run question with an arduous weeklong travel to North Africa and Asia. While 4 years younger, Mr. Trump faced plentifulness of questions astir age-related diminishment portion successful office.

Mr. Biden’s aides respond to questions astir property by citing his record: Look astatine each the bills helium has passed, they argue, due to the fact that that shows helium tin get the occupation done. Among others, Mr. Biden enacted large authorities providing Covid-19 relief; rebuilding the nation’s roads, bridges and different infrastructure; jump-starting the semiconductor industry; expanding wellness care; extending assistance to veterans afflicted by toxic pain pits; curbing the terms of medicine drugs and combating clime change.

None of which, of course, guarantees however helium would beryllium doing successful six years, astatine the extremity of a 2nd term, erstwhile helium would beryllium 86 — 9 years older than Ronald Reagan, the erstwhile oldest president, was erstwhile helium near the White House astatine 77.

But White House officials said specified volatile times, with a nuclear-edged confrontation with Russia implicit Ukraine and antiauthoritarian traditions astatine location threatened by a erstwhile president spreading lies astir a stolen election, are champion met by a seasoned leader.

“Joe Biden is the astir experienced president successful history,” said Andrew Bates, a White House spokesman. “His experience, contented and unsocial transportation to the mediate people is wherefore helium has the astir important legislative accomplishments since Lyndon Johnson.”

The midterm occurrence gives Mr. Biden abstraction to determine connected his ain terms. If helium runs again, helium is apt to person stronger enactment enactment than if determination had been a Republican wave. Barring a surprise, it is harder to ideate a important situation emerging for the nomination. If helium does not run, helium tin bow retired with his pridefulness intact alternatively than looking arsenic though helium was forced to measurement speech by a atrocious election.

In the weeks starring up to the midterms, helium seemed to much publically hedge his reply to the question, but aides said that was due to the fact that lawyers had told him to halt being excessively explicit successful saying helium would tally again for fearfulness that it could punctual ineligible requirements nether run laws.

After past week’s vote, advisers said, Mr. Biden seemed much pumped up for the challenge. One adviser, who similar others spoke connected the information of anonymity to stock interior discussions, called the president “beyond confident” and compared the midterm triumph to someway managing to flight the slaughter of the Battle of Little Bighorn.

Even connected his overseas trip, Mr. Biden has intensely followed the ballot counting backmost home. Emerging from a gathering successful Cambodia with Australia’s premier curate this weekend, the president called Representative Dina Titus successful Nevada to congratulate her connected her victory. When an adjutant woke Mr. Biden connected Sunday with quality that the Nevada Senate contention had been called for Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, clinching Democratic power of the chamber, helium rapidly asked, “What’s the latest with the House?”

Since aboriginal fall, aides person been holding tiny radical meetings to hole successful lawsuit Mr. Biden does run. Among different things, they person consulted with Democrats similar David Plouffe and Jim Messina, who managed Mr. Obama’s 2012 re-election effort; they person besides consulted with veterans of Mr. Clinton’s 1996 re-election campaign, similar Mr. Ricchetti and Bruce Reed, who is presently a lawman White House main of staff.

The advisor who matters most, though, is Jill Biden. The president and the archetypal woman program to retreat with the household for Thanksgiving connected Nantucket, wherever they volition sermon the imaginable of 1 much campaign. If Dr. Biden decides helium should not run, 1 advisor said, helium volition not run. Mr. Biden has told confidants that his woman is “all in,” though immoderate are skeptical.

An announcement whitethorn not travel until the State of the Union address, astir apt successful February. Aides reason they bash not request to determination immoderate sooner since Mr. Biden is an incumbent, and besides, if helium does not run, helium would similar to hold the time helium becomes a lame duck. Should helium not run, it would inactive permission astir a twelvemonth for different Democrats to beryllium themselves connected the run trail.

But successful the exuberance aft past week’s elections, galore Democrats are betting that Mr. Biden volition springiness it different go.

“He conscionable defied midterm governmental history,” said Cornell Belcher, who was Mr. Obama’s pollster. “My God, what president successful the past 2 decades has been amended positioned?”