President Joe Biden’s motorcade rolled through deep blue Atlanta this weekend with little fanfare, leading many to wonder about the enthusiasm for his 2024 campaign.
In 2020, the president became the first Democrat to win a presidential election in Georgia in 30 years. The party also won both Senate seats in the southern state.
But the state’s landscape has changed significantly over the past four years, and recent polls suggest former President Donald Trump is in the lead in the Peach State.
On Saturday, video showed his motorcade driving through Atlanta’s Buckhead neighborhood with only a dozen people on the streets to greet him or catch a glimpse.
As the conservative RNC Research report put it: “If a presidential motorcade passes through town but no one cares, did it really pass through town?”
The president was in town this weekend to deliver the commencement address at Morehouse College, a historically black institution.
President Joe Biden’s motorcade rolled through deep blue Atlanta this weekend with little fanfare, leading many to wonder about the enthusiasm for his 2024 campaign.
On Saturday, video showed his motorcade driving through Atlanta’s Buckhead neighborhood with only a dozen people on the streets to greet him or catch a glimpse.
biden, A new New York Times analysis argues thatHe has lost some support among blacks, people of color and younger voters in Georgia.
These groups were instrumental in his 2020 victory, which he won by about 12,000 votes, suggesting a much tougher battle in the state as the November election approaches.
Georgia’s population has been growing and becoming more diverse in recent years.
In 2020, this, along with years of voter registration and mobilization efforts with historically disenfranchised groups, helped Democrats make progress on suburban expansion in cities like Atlanta.
The push was also fueled by racial justice protests following the killing of George Floyd, which gained intense momentum in Atlanta.
The government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, as well as the glaring inequality in access to health care, also gave Democrats plenty of opportunities to win over voters.
However, Trump and his team attempted to reverse the loss in Georgia, leading to criminal charges being filed against him.
Trump is now gaining support as a result of the backlash to the case brought against him, the New York Times reports.
President Joe Biden told Black graduates Sunday that former President Donald Trump and his Republican allies “don’t see you in the future of America,” in a vicious attack on race.
Recent polls suggest former President Donald Trump is leading in Georgia
The cases “attempt to criminalize political disagreement,” Joshua McKoon, chairman of the Georgia Republican Party, said Friday.
Democrats are also concerned that voter turnout will not match that achieved in 2020 without the motivating factors of protests and the pandemic.
“I think people understand the importance of elections, but there is some fatigue,” Sam Park, a Georgia Democrat, told the Times.
Local Democratic activists are also concerned that some sectors of voters who supported Biden in 2020 have since become disillusioned, according to the publication.
Those on the ground report there is significant anger that Biden has not been tougher on Israel over its actions in Gaza, as well as the party’s failure to address issues such as rising housing costs and student debt.
Others say the real problem is not that Democrats are failing to address issues that matter to voters but their inability to successfully communicate their accomplishments.
They claim that the low levels of unemployment in the Black community, the large amounts of federal funds sent to the state for infrastructure and pandemic relief, as well as the government’s efforts to cancel student loans are notable achievements.
“Those things should not be secrets,” Bishop Reginald T. Jackson, presiding prelate of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in Georgia, told the Times.
President Joe Biden arrived in Atlanta a day before Morehouse’s graduation ceremony and met with prominent alumni on the track, including Senator Raphael Warnock (third from left). He put his hands on the shoulders of Marlon Kimpson, a member of the Trade Policy Advisory Committee.
He then spoke to his supporters at Mary Mac’s Tea Room, telling them he felt good about his chances in the November election and insisting that they shouldn’t be discouraged by the polls because former President Donald Trump is still losing votes in the Republican primaries.
Democrats are aware of the need to craft a narrative in the swing state and are about to launch a $14 million ad campaign in the state later this month.
“I’m not saying this is easy,” Quentin Fulks, Biden’s top deputy campaign manager, who is also from Georgia, told the Times.
And he added: “But I do believe that we have a formula that leads to accepting that message.”
