According to a report by Axios, former President Donald Trump has the potential to secure the Republican presidential nomination in just a few days. Surprisingly, Team Biden seems to be in favor of this outcome. President Joe Biden’s team believes that Trump’s nomination would energize voters and grassroots donors who are opposed to his return to the White House. Biden’s campaign has internal data suggesting that undecided voters, who are the target of their efforts, do not believe Trump will be the Republican nominee due to their lack of engagement with the election.
However, some Democratic strategists are concerned about this line of thinking. Recent polls indicate that Democratic voters are not as enthusiastic about Biden as Republican voters are about Trump. In a January poll conducted by USA Today/Suffolk University, it was found that 44 percent of GOP primary voters were “very enthusiastic” about Trump, while only 18 percent of Democratic primary voters felt the same level of enthusiasm for Biden. Additionally, Trump has raised more than twice the amount of money from small donors compared to Biden between January 2023 and September 30, 2023.
Furthermore, various polls have shown that Biden and Trump are neck-and-neck, indicating a challenging path to re-election for Biden. Lastly, history has proven some top Democratic strategists wrong in their assessments of Trump. For instance, Jim Messina, Barack Obama’s 2012 campaign manager, had hoped that Hillary Clinton would have the opportunity to run against Trump, but Trump ultimately emerged victorious.
Previously, Messina had said, “I wake up every morning…and drop to my knees and pray, ‘Please, God, give me Donald Trump’ as the GOP nominee.”