Obama Takes Concerns About Campaign to Biden

Former president raises structure, aggressiveness, and Donald Trump
By Bob Cronin,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 6, 2024 5:05 PM CST
Obama Suggests Changes to Biden's Campaign
Vice President Joe Biden and President Barack Obama attend an event in the East Room of the White House in 2013.   (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)

President Biden now has heard concerns about his campaign from a person who knows something about being reelected to the White House. Former President Barack Obama suggested changes to Biden and his aides, the Washington Post reports. Among the recommendations, some of which were made at a recent lunch, were that the president's aides turn to former Obama aides for advice, which Biden officials said is happening. A main worry expressed by the former president is Biden's structure: His campaign manager works in Wilmington, Delaware, while other top political advisers work in the White House. So any campaign move has to be approved in Washington first, a process that could be too slow during a fast-changing campaign.

During his reelection campaign, Obama sent top political aides from the White House to his headquarters in Chicago. One of them, David Axelrod, said Friday that presidents take differing approaches to reelection campaigns, adding that the structure of Biden's could still change. Obama also has expressed concerns generally about the Biden campaign's aggressiveness and need to respond quickly to events. He remains worried about Democrats underestimating Republican front-runner Donald Trump, per the Post. A Biden fundraising video released Thursday includes his former boss. "We need your help to ensure Joe's leadership continues to guide us forward," Obama says in it. "We know the other side won't rest, so we can't either." (More President Biden 2024 stories.)

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