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Biden’s “Double-Hater”-itis

There’s one simple rule of presidential politics: If you lose independents in swing states, you lose the election. And Biden is increasingly vulnerable.

Biden has a lot of work to do to stir up enthusiasm and remind voters of the choice on the ballot once the election rolls around.
Biden has a lot of work to do to stir up enthusiasm and remind voters of the choice on the ballot once the election rolls around. Photo by Nathan Howard/Getty Images
Peter Hamby
July 10, 2023

It’s Xanax season for Democrats. The presidential election is more than a year away, but Joe Biden’s party is starting to worry more and more about his re-election chances in 2024. Maybe it’s summer boredom, but the anxieties are real—about Biden’s creaky age, his frustratingly low approval ratings, or his inability to communicate what should be a series of popular achievements to an electorate that has cared less and less about politics since Donald Trump left office. Those plot points are all contributing to the stress. But a new threat is raising everyone’s blood pressure: The possibility that one or more third party candidates will upend Biden’s re-election chances.