Why Do So Few Democrats Want Biden to Run in 2024?
A recent AP-NORC poll found that just a quarter of voters, including only around half of Democrats, want to see Joe Biden run for president again. Many voters are concerned about his age in particular.\n\nThat\u2019s a problem for Biden, but it\u2019s not as unusual as it might seem. In 1982, only 37 percent of voters wanted Ronald Reagan, another older president, to run again; he then won the 1984 election in a landslide. And Biden also has a lot going for him: a better-than-expected midterm performance, an impressive record of legislative achievement and a track record of defeating Donald Trump.\n\nWhat are Biden\u2019s chances in 2024? How does he stack up against Republicans like Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis? What has his campaign focused on so far, and what should they focus on over the next few years?\n\nJon Favreau served as Barack Obama\u2019s head speechwriter from 2005 to 2013, played a key role in both of Obama\u2019s presidential campaigns and currently co-hosts the podcast \u201cPod Save America.\u201d So I asked him on the show to talk through the cases for and against Biden in 2024.\n\nWe cover the concerns over Biden\u2019s age, the strength of Vice President Kamala Harris, the key takeaways from the 2022 midterms, the surprising effectiveness of Biden\u2019s lay-low media strategy, why voters tend to trust Donald Trump\u2019s management of the economy more than Biden\u2019s, how Biden\u2019s bipartisan credentials could help him in 2024 and much more.\n\nThis episode contains explicit language.\n\nMentioned:\n\n\u201cInside the Complicated Reality of Being America\u2019s Oldest President\u201d by Peter Baker, Michael D. Shear, Katie Rogers and Zolan Kanno-Youngs\n\n\u201cThese Political Scientists Surveyed 500,000 Voters. Here Are Their Unnerving Conclusions,\u201d with John Sides and Lynn Vavreck on The Ezra Klein Show\n\nBook Recommendations:\n\nHow to Break Up with Your Phone by Catherine Price\n\nA Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan\n\nNo One Is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood\n\nListen to this podcast in New York Times Audio, our new iOS app for news subscribers. Download now at\xa0nytimes.com/audioapp\n\nThoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at ezrakleinshow@nytimes.com.\n\nYou can find transcripts (posted midday) and more episodes of \u201cThe Ezra Klein Show\u201d at nytimes.com/ezra-klein-podcast, and you can find Ezra on Twitter @ezraklein. Book recommendations from all our guests are listed at https://www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-klein-show-book-recs.\n\nThis episode was produced by Rollin Hu. Fact checking by Michelle Harris, Mary Marge Locker and Kate Sinclair. Mixing by Jeff Geld and Isaac Jones. The show\u2019s production team is Emefa Agawu, Annie Galvin, Rog\xe9 Karma and Kristin Lin. Original music by Isaac Jones. Audience strategy by Shannon Busta. The executive producer of New York Times Opinion Audio is Annie-Rose Strasser. And special thanks to Sonia Herrero and Kristina Samulewski.