(Philadelphia) “Four more years! Four more years! The Democrats welcomed Joe Biden as a star in Philadelphia on Friday, uniting around the American president whose candidacy for a new term is now obvious to them.
“I am going to ask you a simple question: are you with me? the octogenarian leader shouted to a roaring crowd, brandishing “Go Joe” signs.
Meeting in congress for two days in this city in the northeastern United States, the Democrats are working to lay the groundwork for a candidacy whose announcement seems imminent.
Asked by AFP, Senator Chris Coons, very close to Joe Biden, predicted a statement “in the coming months”.
“Apostles”
Swept away all doubts about the age of Joe Biden, who promised in 2020 to make his presidency a kind of “bridge” that would pave the way for future generations.
“I get told about it from time to time, but really less than you think,” Ken Martin, leader of the Minnesota Democratic Party, told AFP, as if to play down the burning question.
In front of one of the many panels of the convention, he urges Democratic activists to become Joe Biden’s “apostles” “over the next two years”.
Titanic investments in the country’s infrastructure, defense of the working class and unionized jobs… “No president has done so much” for the country, says the elected official, bluntly.
“We have to go out, promote all of this to the American people,” he invites.
80 years old, so what?
If re-elected, Joe Biden would be 86 at the end of his second term.
Malcolm Kenyatta, almost 50 years younger than the president, also minimizes: “I would not allow myself to discriminate on his age as long as he defends a program that works”, assures this elected representative from Pennsylvania.
Mr. Kenyatta is a member of this more left-leaning, progressive wing of the party, which has gradually fallen into line, abandoning its criticisms of the president’s social and climate agenda.
“Don’t introduce yourself, Joe”
In Philadelphia, the cradle of American democracy, the most frontal opposition to Joe Biden’s candidacy therefore comes from outside: in freezing cold, a truck with a rather explicit message – “Do not introduce yourself, Joe” – circulates around the establishment hosting this convention.
PHOTO TIMOTHY A. CLARY, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
“He’s a really weak candidate for 2024,” criticizes Sam Rosenthal, the activist behind this action. “Not progressive enough”, under investigation for the management of his personal archives: for this young person, met by AFP, there is no doubt that a new candidacy of Joe Biden for the White House will not would be “unviable” against a Republican.
But calls from his group, which is not affiliated with the president’s party, are coming up against a blue wall – the color of the Democrats.
Joe Biden, who had to face fifteen candidates during the party’s last primaries in 2020, will obviously go it alone this time.
And is preparing to face in November 2024 the candidate chosen by the Republicans, who are struggling for the moment to agree.
“I think we are witnessing the last gasp of the Republican Party,” says Jaime Harrison, the chairman of the Democratic Party, overflowing with confidence. “So take your vitamins, and get ready. »
Corrigendum: An earlier version of this article mentioned Jamie Harrison, when it should have said Jaime Harrison. Our apologies.
