President Joe Biden is slated to join Pennsylvania senate candidate Jon Fetterman on the campaign trail today, but that move is the exception rather than the rule. Unlike former President Barack Obama, who was and remains in high demand during congressional campaigns, Biden’s fellow Democrats have been less eager to have him come to their states.
Asked about Democratic Party candidates’ reluctance to have him on the campaign trail, Biden snapped at a reporter Thursday.
“That’s not true! There’ve been 15. Count kid, count,” he said.
President Biden has not visited Maine to support Reps. Chellie Pingree (CD-1) and Jared Golden (CD-2) for their reelection campaigns.
That’s not much of a surprise for Pingree, whose reelection bid is not perceived as competitive, but Golden is in a tight race against former Republican Rep. Bruce Poliquin. Traditionally, having the sitting president of your party campaign for you in person has been a boon, signaling to voters and donors that the race is important. Biden has visited New England a few times this year to tout legislative accomplishments, getting close to the Maine-New Hampshire border, but he hasn’t made it to Maine.
Golden, whose congressional district is more conservative the Pingree’s, has spent most of his campaign running away from the key legislative accomplishments of the Biden administration, with much of his television advertising boasting of his efforts to oppose his own party’s spending bills.