President Biden hitting campaign trail for Democrats

President Joe Biden is using the momentum from recent legislative victories to carry him onto the campaign trail. He’s making three stops in Pennsylvania over the next week, including a primetime address from Philadelphia’s Independence National Historic Park Thursday night. The White House said the president will speak about what it is calling “the continued battle for the Soul of the Nation.”

There are two key races in Pennsylvania: the contests to replace retiring Gov. Tom Wolf, D, and retiring Sen. Pat Toomey, R.

He’ll also be in Ohio Friday, Sept. 9, for the groundbreaking of a new Intel manufacturing plant and to promote the CHIPS Act. The Democrat running to be Ohio’s next senator will be there with him.

“I will be there, I am proud to have supported this and help bring this investment to Ohio.” Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, said on CNN’s State of the Union.

The president will also campaign in Wisconsin against Republican Sen. Ron Johnson as Democratic nominee Mandela Barnes tries to flip that seat. A series of recent polls in August, including one conducted by Marquette University Law School, show Johnson trailing Barnes anywhere from two to seven points.

This is a big turnaround for President Biden, whose political capital has grown after passing legislation like the Inflation Reduction Act. The president has struggled with polling and perception that it’s time for new leadership in the Democratic Party. An IPSOS poll out Sunday revealed 56% of Democrats believe the president should not run for re-election in 2024. 

“In the wake of the Inflation Reduction Act’s passage, the American public gives the Democratic Party an advantage over the Republican Party on the ability to push their agenda through Washington. However, the GOP holds the advantage on being good for the economy, at a time when inflation/increasing costs are the single most important issue to Americans,” IPSOS said in the poll’s release. 

The president’s approval numbers are also up, climbing to a year high of 44% this month, compared to a year low of 39% in July.

“I truly believe that most Americans, most voters, enjoy seeing their president taking a step forward, being more aggressive about the things he believes in, because he has the mandate to lead,” Maxwell Frost, a Democratic congressional candidate in Florida, said on MSNBC.