In an Oval Office speech, Biden bid his goodbyes. But his work isn’t finished yet. President Joe Biden spoke to the nation from the Oval Office Wednesday night, the climax of a few weeks that will go down in history as the time he gave up the Democratic presidential nomination — an act that may stand one day as the signature moment of his political career.
It was an attempt at a graceful exit from political life, but it had the effect of underlining that only days after the president announced his unprecedented decision, the nation has already moved on.”I decided the best way forward is to pass the torch to a new generation.”
Biden said in his speech:
“It is the best way to unite our nation”
Now that he has done so, the question is: What, if anything, is left for an outgoing president to do?
But Biden himself says there’s much more to do, and he made clear Wednesday night he would like to thread up some loose ends on policy. For instance, he pledged to continue his push in defense of democracy both at home and abroad. And he vowed to deliver a ceasefire in Gaza before he leaves office.
But beyond Biden’s legacy — and the needs of the country — there’s still a campaign going on. What can he do in terms of both?
What is he able to do on the campaign trail — and what should he?
According to strategists and pollsters, Biden can be an asset for Harris on the campaign trail.
Biden does too. Speaking at a campaign event in Delaware via teleconference Monday, he said, “I’m going to be on the road, and I’m not going anywhere.” He expressed his continued support for Harris Wednesday night: “She’s tough; she’s capable. She’s been an incredible partner to me and a leader for our country.
Chuck Rocha, a former senior adviser for Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2020 campaign, said Biden has an opening to help Harris with union members and white working-class voters in Pennsylvania and Michigan — blocks of voters that helped him win the presidency last year.
Bryan Saville, a lead pollster for Blueprint, Evan Roth Smith, said that Biden also needs to speak to the voters who have been most loyal to him—even over the last month—and tell them it’s important that they not just turn out to vote for Harris but knock on doors on her behalf.
Fernand Amandi, a Democratic pollster, said Biden can reassert the successes of his administration as a “political wind behind the sails of the Kamala campaign,” touting her as a doer of things.
But Harris also has the unusual opportunity to make a second first impression, to define herself outside being Biden’s vice president, and not be as closely aligned in voters’ minds with issues on which they rated the administration poorly, such as inflation and immigration, Roth Smith said.
“So she has this important opportunity to create some daylight,” he said. “It’s important not to waste it and not to overly tether her to Biden.”
What of the rest of Biden’s presidency?
As strategists and pollsters told me, Biden should just be president for the rest of his presidency, and, as he said in his speech, that is what he will do.
“An important role for the president is to be this statesman, to show that Democrats can govern,” Roth Smith said.
Representing competence while finding ways to signal to voters what his administration has done for them — from the Inflation Reduction Act to the bipartisan infrastructure law and beyond — may be one of the top ways he can help Harris.
“The Biden-Harris administration has a fantastic story to tell,” Amandi said. “It was a story that had been undermined by the legitimate concerns about whether or not the president could continue another four years.”
Kyle Kondik, managing editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics, said that “Biden’s ability to do anything truly substantive is muted” since he has to deal with a divided Congress, and it is election season.
“I think President Biden’s approval ratings will be dramatically higher when he leaves office in January because the lone impediment to judging him in the context of his success has now been removed, which is he wouldn’t seek reelection at an age where his physical limitations wouldn’t allow him to continue,” Amandi said.
The stakes remain very high for Democrats. What’s left of Biden’s term can set up a handoff to another Democratic administration that would cement the policies he initiated. But as Biden has himself put it, before anyone — even Harris — can take the reins, he first has to “finish the job.”.
