In elections, an endorsement from an important party figure can make or break a campaign. Candidates at all levels covet endorsements from House members, senators, and even presidents.
And that certainly keeps the endorsements coming from people with influence in both parties. But one particular luminary hasn’t endorsed many candidates going into the 2022 midterms: Joe Biden.
The president has endorsed fewer candidates than most any key figure from either party, according to a report from Axios.
“Biden has made just four endorsements since taking office: Reps. Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.), Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.) and Shontel Brown (D-Ohio), as well as former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, who lost a bid to regain his old job last fall,” writes Andrew Solender at Axios.
We can contrast Biden’s slim endorsement portfolio with other important Democrats. A few of his 2020 White House rivals have far outpaced him. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), whose new tribal name is Gives Her Approval, has endorsed 33 candidates, while Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and author, guru, and activist Marianne Williamson have each recommended 31 candidates. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) lags further behind, with 15 endorsements.
Even Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) outpace the president with 13 and six endorsements respectively.
On the other side of the aisle, notable Republicans leave Biden in the dust. Senators like Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who has given his seal of approval to 43 candidates, and Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), who has endorsed 17 candidates, are more willing to stick their necks out for 2022. Reps. Steve Scalise (R-La.) and Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) have endorsed around 30 candidates apiece.
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has endorsed a whopping 57 candidates, but even he doesn’t hold a candle to former president Donald Trump, who has given his approval to 174 candidates in 2022.
Related: Here’s How We Know That the White House Doesn’t Have a COVID Strategy
Why has Biden endorsed so few candidates? Sitting presidents tend to not weigh in on specific candidates, but Biden’s numbers are minuscule. Biden’s team says that some endorsements are forthcoming.
“You can expect to see some endorsements from the president moving forward,” a Biden adviser told Axios, clarifying that the president will focus on “incumbents who have been with him on votes and supporting his agenda, which is helping the American people.”
That same insider noted that Biden will be “strategic” in his endorsements, as though we could ever accuse this administration of having a coherent strategy on anything.
Could it be instead that a Biden endorsement might hang on a candidate’s neck like an albatross? In November’s elections in Virginia, Biden went all-in on some Democratic candidates, including Terry McAuliffe, who lost his race.
One candidate in a Virginia House of Representatives race that same day claimed that Biden’s endorsement of his opponent made the difference in the Republican’s win.
"My opponent was endorsed by President Biden and she just started sinking from there," says AC Cordoza, showcasing the impact a Joe Biden endorsement had on a Democrat running for office. @Stinchfield1776. pic.twitter.com/QjVwcZBcyy
— Newsmax (@newsmax) November 4, 2021
It’s not hard to imagine that the Biden blessing is a “Merde Touch” in disguise — to borrow the brilliant, perfect phrase from my esteemed PJ Media colleague Vodkapundit. It may be that some candidates have given the polite “no thanks” to the idea of a Biden endorsement. Wouldn’t you flee from the sinking ship that is the Biden administration if you were in their shoes?
The Biden administration, the mainstream media, and Big Tech want nothing more than to keep all the power for themselves. That’s why they employ opinion monitors disguised as “fact-checkers,” to make sure that all most people read is The Narrative™.
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