'Are you with me?' Biden previews re-elect campaign at DNC

Biden’s run rhetoric connected Friday nighttime doesn’t needfully mean a general announcement is imminent, arsenic Democrats expect an announcement successful precocious March aliases April. But nan DNC has already hired respective communications accelerated consequence board who will beryllium deployed to nan 4 Republican early states and Florida, according to a statement aide.

“We person momentum,” Harris said successful her speech. “And now, let’s fto nan group cognize this is what they voted for.”

Democrats are besides eager to coming a agreed front, hoping to opposition themselves pinch a Republican Party that is struggling pinch its ain intra-party play and a divided statesmanlike field.

Even though erstwhile President Donald Trump announced different statesmanlike tally past year, respective different GOP candidates are still expected to motorboat their ain bids. Former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley is expected to motorboat her statesmanlike campaign successful 2 weeks, while Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) will footwear disconnected a “listening tour” successful South Carolina and Iowa. Former Vice President Mike Pence is also readying stops successful South Carolina, an early statesmanlike nominating state. And past weekend, nan Republican National Committee closed retired its ain wintertime gathering pinch a contentious chair’s race.

“It makes consciousness for them to travel here, talk to nan party, arsenic a ticket, and some of them make nan case, heading into nan State of nan Union,” said Mo Elleithee, a DNC member, citing Tuesday’s State of nan Union speech, different high-profile, message-testing vehicle.

“It’s emotion for illustration showtime,” Elleithee added.

It’s besides a marked opposition from Biden’s opinionated a twelvemonth ago, erstwhile his legislative schedule appeared stalled, ostentation continued to spike and Democrats privately worried astir Biden’s 2024 prospects.

In his speech, Biden ticked done Democratic priorities accomplished during his first term, including lowering nan costs of medicine drugs, investing successful combating ambiance alteration and appointing nan first Black female to nan Supreme Court. He besides laid retired a number of argumentation goals for a imaginable 2nd term, including banning battle weapons, codifying Roe v. Wade and strengthening elector entree laws — a argumentation wish database that’s not presently imaginable pinch a divided Congress.

“America is back,” Biden said, “and we’re starring nan world again.”

Biden and Harris besides veered into sharper attacks connected Republicans, returning to themes that they regularly deed up of nan 2022 midterms by tying nan GOP to extremism and predetermination denialism.

In 2022, Harris said, “we defeated ‘Big Lies’ and extremism,” but “extremist alleged leaders” are still banning books and “criminali[zing] doctors.”

“This is not your father’s Republican Party,” Biden said. “These aren’t conservatives. These are disruptive people. They intend to destruct nan advancement we made.”

Mark Longabaugh, a Democratic strategist who served arsenic a elder advisor connected Bernie Sanders’ 2016 bid, said nan Democratic Party “feels for illustration this worked for them successful nan 2022 elections,” and “I’m guessing they’ve sewage a definite magnitude of investigation that shows that it continues to beryllium a salient message.”

Biden and Harris besides appeared astatine a Democratic fundraiser Friday afternoon, wherever Biden told donors that Democrats person to “lay retired what we’ve done, show them what much we person to get done and really we’re going to salary for it.”

The three-day DNC gathering will culminate connected Saturday pinch a ballot to dramatically upend nan statesmanlike nominating calendar. The proposal, recommended by Biden, would elevate South Carolina to a coveted first-place position and destruct Iowa from nan early window. It would besides activity to adhd Georgia and Michigan to nan early nominating process.

The connection has faced important pushback from New Hampshire Democrats, who person waged a nationalist conflict against their state’s position successful nan lineup, which would put them 3 days aft nan South Carolina superior and connected nan aforesaid time arsenic nan Nevada primary.

“We’re successful an impossible, no-win situation,” said New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairman Ray Buckley astatine a property convention connected Friday afternoon, citing nan Republican-controlled legislature and GOP Gov. Chris Sununu’s guidance to repealing aliases changing nan state’s century-old rule that requires them to beryllium nan first-in-the-nation primary.

“It seems overseas we’d beryllium punished for thing that’s wholly retired of our control,” he said.

They besides stressed that by forcing New Hampshire retired of compliance pinch its ain authorities law, it would “give Republicans an opportunity to out-organize us” and “create a cleanable large wind to wounded Biden and Democrats each nan measurement down” nan ticket, Buckley said.

But nan DNC’s Rules and Bylaws Committee, nan group charged pinch recommending nan caller statement up early states, delayed immoderate talk of sanctions against New Hampshire by granting them an hold until June 3 to comply pinch nan DNC’s requirements. Georgia, different authorities controlled by a Republican politician and legislature, was besides granted an extension.