After delivering his second State of the Union speech and taking credit for all sorts of accomplishments that didn’t exactly ring true, Joe Biden is making a campaign tour that will test the mettle of the octogenarian. It’s a 20-city tour, and his message will be the same as heard on Tuesday. But it’s an administration-wide effort to re-elect the current leader of the free world. So Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen heads to Tennessee, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will be in North Carolina on a green mission, and Education Secretary Miguel Cardona is courting soon-to-be-voting-age high school students in Nebraska.
The whole gang – the president, vice president, and Cabinet members – will crank out 30 events in two days, increasing the Biden carbon footprint dramatically. And yet, as of this writing, Mr. Biden has not announced, officially that he is running in 2024.
It’s a Biden Blitz
It appears the Swamp is draining itself, if only for the week. Cabinet members who wish to keep their cushy high-profile positions are spreading their fossil-fueled wings to do the president’s bidding. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm has Nevada in her sights, a purplish state that will announce an investment in battery manufacturing. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is in Lake Charles, LA, taking a victory lap and handing out a $150 million grant for infrastructure updates. Vice President Harris has also found her niche: No, it’s not the border. Number two has her green energy message down pat and has been using it in Arizona and Michigan. Now Harris will see if the clean energy initiatives will attract and return the ticket’s voters in Atlanta, Georgia.
Kamala Harris (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Officials will also visit Arizona, California, Delaware, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, and Utah. A push in veteran communities for better programming for the VA will be discussed in the Lone Star State. The promise of equalizing the economic playing field for black people will be made in Oklahoma. Pennsylvanians will be asked to help plug orphan wells. Farmers and ranchers in Kansas will be wooed to help direct efforts on climate change.
It Takes a Cabinet
For two years, the Biden/Harris-led administration has kept the lid on letting the two deviate from well-prepared scripts or sit down for live interviews. And soon, the Democratic Party will have to either encourage this ticket or exchange it for one that has a brighter, longer future. So far, the administration has not surprised the American people nor fooled any conservatives with a mastery of words. As campaigning goes, Joe Biden has been something of a disaster. For the 2020 election, he started and stayed in his basement, each interaction heavily scripted. There was no handshaking or, thank goodness, baby-kissing. COVID has all but passed, however, and it appears a brutal campaign is again being avoided, this time through emissaries. As Mrs. Clinton once said: “it takes a village to raise a child.” Maybe it takes an entire Cabinet to drag the Biden/Harris ticket back for another four years.
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