Biden Takes ‘Old-fashioned Election’ to Trump’s Doorstep in Florida
Abortion rights opens new possibilities for Democrats in the Sunshine State
President Biden traveled to Donald Trump’s home state of Florida Monday, in what was both a not-so-subtle campaign flex, and a clear sign of the potential clout of abortion rights in this year’s election.
Biden’s visit to the Sunshine State clearly demonstrated the very different fortunes of the two major parties’ presumptive nominees as the incumbent is free to campaign as he wishes while his predecessor is confined to a courtroom in New York for the first-ever criminal trial of a former US president.
Biden stopped at a community college in Tampa, Fla., a state which has only trended Republican in recent years.
While certainly no shoo-in, the potential for the Sunshine State is suddenly up for grabs, thanks to two rulings by the state’s supreme court.
That court allowed a 6-week abortion ban to take effect, but also ruled that a proposed amendment to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution can appear on the ballot in November.
That opens new possibilities for Biden and Democrats, as access to abortion has been a potent issue for them since the right-wing justices on the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade in 2022 and upended nearly half a century of guaranteed access to abortion nationwide.
During his visit, Biden touted the improvements he’s been seeing in his likely rematch against Trump.
“I’m really excited. We’ve raised almost a half a billion dollars so far,” he said, to audience applause. “But here’s what excites me: So far, we have 1.6 million contributors — 1.6 million contributors — 550,000 more than we had last time at this stage of the game.
“But here’s the deal. Of those 1.6 million contributors, 97 percent contributed less than $200. Think of all the numbers that that means,” Biden added.
He also acknowledged that opinion polling has started moving more in his direction.
“The polls don’t win you an election,” Biden said. “But in the last 23 national polls, I’ve been ahead in 10 of them, Trump has been ahead in 8, and we’ve been tied in 5. More importantly, the momentum is clearly in our favor.”
The president also said that he is running an “old-fashioned election.”
“It’s about getting out the votes. It’s about putting together campaigns the old-fashioned way. Not that we don’t use all the technology available, but just everything from knocking on doors to putting up road signs to make sure that we get people to the polls and all those things,” Biden said.
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