Several individuals involved with former President Barack Obama’s campaigns have come forward with criticism of President Joe Biden’s reelection effort.
Several team Obama veterans met in late 2023 in Chicago, Illinois, where they discussed their successful 2012 reelection effort — and its notable differences from Biden’s 2024 campaign.
A Democratic operative in attendance characterized the feelings of the group. “The vibe was that the campaign didn’t have its s*** together,” the Obama alumnus told Politico.
“There wasn’t infrastructure in the states. There wasn’t a beefed-up campaign headquarters. And compared to where Obama was in 2011, the campaign was fairly anemic,” they added.
In a statement to Politico, Biden spokesman Kevin Munoz said, “We invite everyone concerned about the existential threat that Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans pose to our freedom and democracy to channel their energy toward organizing, donating and talking to their friends about the stakes of this election and President Biden’s commitment to fighting these threats head on.”
Despite the criticism, Biden’s campaign revealed Monday it raised more than $97 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. It also announced it had $117 million in cash on hand, noting this is the highest of any Democratic candidate in U.S. history. The campaign further pointed out the 2024 war chest is more than the totality of primary spending on ads by GOP opponents in Iowa.
Even with continued fundraising success, the campaign hasn’t addressed areas of concern for Obama-era staffers and advisers.
One of the chief concerns for Biden’s operation is a lack of understanding on how to run a successful ground game in swing states.
“The big issue I have is Biden never had an organization before. He didn’t have much in the Dem primary. Then the general was during Covid and no ground stuff was really done,” a former Obama battleground state director in 2012 said.
Another critique of Biden’s effort was his hesitance to move key White House officials to his campaign team early.
“There is a treasure trove of experience in that White House. I mean, one of the issues is it’s all in the White House,” former chief strategist to Obama David Axelrod said. “Probably some of it should be sitting over at the campaign.”
However, others were defensive of the campaign’s current approach and trajectory.
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Jim Messina, Obama’s reelection campaign manager, explained the strategy behind waiting to deploy certain infrastructure. “Your average swing voter pays attention to politics four minutes a week until the few months leading up to November,” he explained.
“So the way they’re working to activate the base and get out their message — and the stakes of making the right choice in the inevitable Biden/Trump rematch — to other groups is smart,” he added.