(Washington) In the American capital, the possible candidacy of Joe Biden for a second presidential term is a well-kept secret. Only the principal concerned seems not to hide it.
A trip to Arizona on Tuesday proves that at 80, the Democratic leader is seriously preparing the ground to stay in the White House until he is 86.
He is going there for the first time as president, and if the official reason is the promotion of a new semiconductor plant in Phoenix, it is undeniable that this state in the southwestern United States, deeply divided, will be one of the key links in any successful presidential campaign.
November’s midterm elections, where Republicans failed to recapture the Senate and only captured the House of Representatives with a narrow majority, far from the expected ‘red wave’, were played by Joe Biden like a real win.
And just as his opponent Donald Trump begins his own campaign for 2024 in a climate of scandal, the current American president is enjoying the best period of his first term.
The US economy is currently defying forecasts of a severe recession.
The Biden administration’s big investment programs passed by Congress over the past two years are starting to pay off, pumping money into the manufacturing of high-tech products, like semiconductors, in the world. green energy but also in more traditional infrastructure such as roads and bridges.
“After the Holidays”
Abroad, the US-backed alliance against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues to hold after almost ten months and offsets the Americans’ bitter sense of failure in Afghanistan.
In Washington, Joe Biden has just wrapped up a successful state visit with French President Emmanuel Macron.
“Things are moving, they are moving in the right direction”, recently launched the Democratic president after the publication of good figures for the American job market. Statements that do not resemble those of someone who intends to leave the political scene.
Joe Biden has said his decision won’t be made until “early next year,” with his chief of staff Ron Klain telling the Wall Street Journal on Monday that he expects the president to make a decision “soon after the decisions.” parties” and “that his decision is to go”.
For his political entourage, it seems indeed an open secret.
“I expect him to run,” Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic leader from January in the House of Representatives, told Fox News on Sunday.
“From everything I’ve heard from him, in public and in private, he intends to run again,” Senator Chris Coons, a longtime friend of Joe Biden, told AFP.
Family and doctors
Even Newt Gingrich, a stalwart of the Republican right wing, reluctantly voices his admiration for Mr. Biden.
“Stop underestimating President Biden,” he wrote on the Axios news site, warning Republicans about the effectiveness he has shown during his terms.
But it is the doctors and family of the current President of the United States, not political commentators, who will decide his future candidacy.
Some family “discussions” mentioned by Joe Biden took place on the very upscale island of Nantucket off the American state of Massachusetts, where he was with his relatives for Thanksgiving. More family councils are expected over Christmas, with the highly influential first lady Jill Biden.
The annual medical report, which should be made public soon, could also be decisive.
Octogenarian Joe Biden has some typical signs of old age: thinner hair, a stiff gait – and a few falls – and frequent speech problems.
A year ago, however, the White House doctor concluded that he was “suitable” for his duties.
Will this still be the case in two years?
Some medical tests have already been carried out and others will be, the results are expected “in the coming months”, White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said on Monday.