President Joe Biden officially turned the page Wednesday to the general election, looking ahead to a race against former President Donald Trump that will test his ability to reenergize key corners of his winning coalition in a race his team views as nothing less than a fight for democracy itself.
The campaign believes results from New Hampshire’s primary were enough to indicate Trump would be the Republican nominee. As the starting gun fired, the contours of Biden’s efforts and challenges in reconvening critical voting blocs that helped propel him into office were coming into sharper view.
Biden’s path to victory will not be an easy one. His campaign advisers readily acknowledge the race this year will be exceedingly close and say their efforts will accelerate over the coming weeks. He faces a party that, according to polls, would have preferred a different candidate. And divisions within his coalition, most visibly over the war in Gaza, have increasingly spilled into public view.
On Tuesday, those ruptures were on vivid display during a speech in Virginia about abortion rights – otherwise a galvanizing issue for Democrats. Biden was interrupted more than a dozen times by people protesting the war in Gaza, who were eventually drowned out by supporters cheering Biden on. Hours after, he was projected to win the New Hampshire primary race even though his name wasn’t on the ballot.
On Wednesday, he secured the key backing of the United Auto Workers, which had initially held off endorsing Biden amid concerns about his push toward electric vehicles. The backing was vindication after Biden’s appeals to union members and working-class voters – including a visit to a UAW picket line last year. The announcement could have its biggest effect in Michigan, which Biden won by 3 points in 2020.
And on Thursday, a pair of events will be aimed at…
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