Democrats worried about Joe Biden’s re-election prospects are “fucking bedwetters” and should not worry so much, the former Obama campaign manager Jim Messina said.
“Historically, we’re fucking bedwetters,” Messina told Politico. “We grew up in the 80s and 90s when Republicans won elections all the time. Democrats had their hearts deeply broken when Hillary [Clinton] lost [to Donald Trump in 2016] and people didn’t see that coming. And so, you know, we continually believe every bad thing people say.”
Polling shows Trump is the clear leader in the Republican race to face Biden next year. Polling also shows Trump and Biden in a close race, and many more Americans are concerned about Biden, 80, being too old to be president, than about Trump, who is 77.
Biden’s approval ratings remain stubbornly low, even regarding an economy most observers consider to be in good shape.
Discussing “a new 22-slide presentation” that he shared with Politico, Messina said: “I thought it was important to say to my friends and clients and other people, ‘Let’s just take a step back and try to be really number-specific and really sort of who has what cards in their poker hand.
“And you would just rather be Joe Biden than Donald Trump.’”
Outlining Biden’s strengths, Messina cited the strong economy, the success of messaging about rightwing threats to abortion rights and the stark contrast between Biden, a centrist Democrat, and Trump, the leader of an extremist Republican party.
“It’s a choice between two parties, two ideologies, between two people,” Messina said. “And that choice matters … People didn’t see the Democratic turnout in 2022 coming.”
For Democrats, the 2022 midterms turned out better than expected, with Republicans in control of the House – setting up what is now a looming Biden impeachment – but only by a slim majority and with Democrats holding the Senate.
Now 53, Messina worked in congressional politics before becoming chief of staff to Barack Obama’s first presidential campaign in 2008, defeating John McCain. Four years later, he managed Obama’s re-election victory over Mitt Romney.
Messina has worked in other countries, including as a consultant to the Conservative party in the UK, helping David Cameron win an outright majority in the general election of 2015. He was less successful in 2017, when Theresa May was returned as prime minister but without a parliamentary majority.
Speaking to Politico, Messina identified one major threat to Biden in a second presidential election against Trump: third-party candidates.
“I don’t care what they do,” Messina said of efforts such as that mounted by No Labels, a big-money group threatening to run a centrist third-party pick, names in the frame including the Democratic West Virginia senator Joe Manchin and Larry Hogan, a former Republican Maryland governor.
“I don’t care how much money they spend. I don’t care who their nominee is. They’re going to get zero electoral votes. The question is who do they take the votes from?
“You just can’t split away votes if you want to beat Donald Trump. And I just cannot overstate how crucial it is to make sure that we don’t create a vehicle that takes enough votes up to elect Donald Trump.”
