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((PLAYBOOK SLUG: BIDEN FEW CHALLENGERS
HEADLINE: Why Biden Has Few Challengers to His 2024 Presidential Bid
TEASER: History has proven incumbent U.S. presidents are hard to beat
PUBLISHED AT: 8/17/23 at 11:56a
BYLINE: Veronica Balderas Iglesias
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: Arlington, Virginia
VIDEOGRAPHER: Veronica Balderas Iglesias
VIDEO EDITOR: Veronica Balderas Iglesias
SCRIPT EDITORS: newhouse, DLJ
VIDEO SOURCE (S): Original, Skype, Agencies, see script
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _X_ RADIO __
TRT: 2:40
VID APPROVED BY: Reifenrath
TYPE: TV/R
EDITOR NOTES: Radio Tracks for Reversioning Included))
((TV INTRO)) Opinion polls indicate some 54% of Americans disapprove of the job President Joe Biden is doing, and even Democratic Party supporters have expressed concerns about the president’s age. But Biden has no significant Democratic challengers for reelection, making him almost certain to be the Democratic Party nominee. VOA’s Veronica Balderas Iglesias reports on why Biden has been mostly unchallenged in his bid for a second term.
((NARRATOR))
Some Democrats in Arlington, Virginia, are wary about 80-year-old Joe Biden
becoming his party’s nominee for the 2024 presidential election. The main reason? His age.
((Darin Marshall, Chef))
“He has knowledge that’s vast, but as an effective president, his actions are a little slower than they should be.”
((Melissa Fry, Sustainability Consultant))
“I think a lot of people are hoping for other people to kind of stand up and be promoted by the party.”
((Yaileen Rodriguez, Special Education Assistant))
“I think a challenge is healthy, you know, sometimes that’s what people need to elevate their performance.”
((NARRATOR))
So far, only two fringe candidates are poised to challenge the incumbent president in the primaries:
spiritual activist Marianne Williamson
and environmental lawyer Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
[[RADIO INTRO: Ben Berger is a professor of political science at Swarthmore College]]
((Ben Berger, Swarthmore College Political Scientist)) - ((Skype))
“Neither one, if history is any indicator, are going to be around when the dust settles. The only way that we might actually see a viable candidate emerge other than Biden, is if Biden actually decides to step down.”
((NARRATOR))
That’s because beating a sitting president for a party’s nomination is hard, historians say.
[[RADIO INTRO: Professor of History at American University Allan Lichtman via Skype.]]
((Allan Lichtman, American University Professor of History)) - ((Skype))
“They have unparalleled name recognition. // They have sources of funding that are not available to challengers. // And of course, experience in campaigning and in governing.”
[[RADIO INTRO: David Greenberg is a History Professor at Rutgers University]]
((David Greenberg, Rutgers University Professor of History)) - ((Skype))
“Jimmy Carter was a weak president in 1980, drew a challenge from Senator Ted Kennedy. George Bush senior was a very weak president, drew a challenge in 1992. // So it has happened, but again it’s rare for those challengers to win.”
((VIDEO: TBD Agencies))
((NARRATOR))
Also in Biden’s favor, it appears he will again face former president Donald Trump as the Republican Party nominee, making it likely that Democratic voters will rally behind him next year, says political analyst Pope “Mac” McCorkle.
((Pope 'Mac' McCorkle, Duke University Political Analyst)) - ((Skype))
“But while things look like that’s where it’s headed, again, because of the age of both of them, because of Trump’s legal problems, we could see a lot of change, as an outside possibility between now and Election Day on 2024.”
((NARRATOR))
With more than a year until the general election, analysts caution the race is still very early, and say that opinion polls published now about the presidential hopefuls have zero predictive value for November 2024.
((Veronica Balderas Iglesias, VOA News, Arlington, Virginia)
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Embargo DateAugust 17, 2023 12:43 EDT
BylineVeronica Balderas Iglesias
Brand / Language ServiceUS Agency for Global Media, Voice of America - English
