(FiveNation.com)- While there are still some outstanding races to be decided in the midterm election cycle, the big items have all been ironed out — with Democrats retaining control of the Senate and Republicans retaking control of the House.
That is leading many people in Washington to already focus on the next big election coming in two years — the presidential election in 2024.
On Sunday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi — who will lose that title early next year to a Republican — said she believes that President Joe Biden should run for re-election.
Biden hasn’t made any official announcement on his intentions yet, though he has whispered many times that he plans to run for re-election. In most years, it would be almost a sure thing that a sitting president would run for re-election after his first term, but Biden’s age — he’ll be 80 years old this weekend — and the fact that his administration has faced many criticisms, have contributed to some people thinking he’d be better off stepping aside.
That being said, Pelosi believes that Biden should run for re-election because “he has accomplished so much” and “has a great record.”
Speaking on the “This Week” program on ABC last weekend, Pelosi said:
“President Biden has been a great president for our country. Over 10 million jobs under his leadership. Working with the private sector, of course. He has just done so many things that are so great.
“He’s put money in people’s pockets, vaccines in their arms, children back to school, people back to work, for starters, creating 10 million jobs. He has made American independent by passing the CHIPS bill that says we’re no longer reliant on those who would withhold products that enable us to manufacture in our country.”
She also made reference to the Inflation Reduction Act, a bill passed solely with the support of Democrats, the PACT Act and the bipartisan infrastructure bill. Pelosi said that Biden did all of this “with justice, with equity, with inclusiveness, with diversity, taking us to a new place. He has been a great president, and he has a great record to run on.”
Many people, especially on the conservative side of things, would tend to disagree vehemently with those remarks. That being said, some political pundits believe the outcomes of the midterm elections — which didn’t result in the Republican red wave that many predicted — shows that Biden has a legitimate shot at being re-elected in 2024.
One day before the election, Douglas Brinkley, a presidential historian for Rice University, told The Washington Post:
“If Biden can hold on to a Democratic Senate, then he’ll be in the catbird seat to run for re-election. Now, if it’s a red wave and the Republicans win the Congress and the Senate, there’s going to be a drumroll for Biden to not be the party’s nominee.”
Biden hasn’t decided whether he’ll run again in 2024 — at least that’s what he has said publicly to this point. In the past, he’s told reporters that he would likely make a public announcement on his intentions sometime early in 2023.
