President Biden greets supporters and volunteers at a campaign event at Mary Mac’s Tea Room in Atlanta on May 18.
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Four years ago, the Rev. James Woodall was forced to mobilize new first-time voters for Joe Biden amid a summer of COVID-19 fears and George Floyd Protests for racial justice following the killing of George Floyd by police have sparked unrest.
Woodall, who was president of the Georgia NAACP at the time, hoped the effort to defeat then-President Donald Trump would lead to changes in policing and criminal justice.
But this year, Woodall, 30, said he’s not sure whether he will vote for Biden in November.
“There’s no way I’m going to vote for Trump,” he said. “But I don’t know if I can actually vote for Joe Biden in good conscience. I just don’t know.
The Rev. James Woodall says he won’t vote for former President Donald Trump, but he’s disappointed in President Joe Biden and may not be able to vote for him.
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It’s one of many warning signs for the campaign of Biden, who won the state by a razor-thin vote in 2020 and was backed by a multiracial, ideologically diverse coalition — progressives, moderates, black voters, Asians Americans, Latino voters, suburban white women and disaffected former Republicans — united against Trump.
In 2024, Biden is an incumbent with a record of his own, making it harder for him to view this election as a referendum on Trump.
“Four years later, the problems remain,” Woodall said, referring to the lack of legislation on voting rights and policing. “In fact, some of them have escalated to crisis status.”
There are cracks in Biden’s coalition: Frustration with the president’s handling of everything from inflation to immigration. For Woodall, his main reservations are the war in Gaza – the graphic images of starving children he’s seen on social media – and his belief in Biden’s ability to stop the war if he so chooses.
Black Voters Matter co-founder LaTosha Brown said she’s concerned the Biden campaign won’t have enough resources in 2024.
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2020 is a very different year than 2024
Georgia had been a reliably Republican state in the presidential race until Biden flipped the state in 2020. But the margin was small — just 11,779 votes — and organizers and political experts agreed that many factors aligned with Biden that year.
“What Democrats benefited from in 2020 was a zeitgeist of dissatisfaction with the Trump administration,” said Emory University political scientist Andra Gillespie. “If Democrats are going to repeat this in 2024, when you have to put When COVID-19 is taken out of the equation, you have to run a perfect mobilization campaign.”
LaTosha Brown, co-founder of Black Voters Matter, which has been a key organization in mobilizing black voters in the South, said she was concerned.
“It’s not enough to say, ‘Oh, look at the threat of Trump,’ because what we’re hearing from local voters — they’ve actually survived Trump’s rule,” she said at the end of a two-day told NPR during the interview. “I don’t think there are enough resources locally,” she said. “Believe it or not, in many ways I think we need more resources than we did in 2020 because I think there was a special movement momentum in 2020 that isn’t there right now this year. “
Biden campaign sees cracks
The Biden campaign said it had begun building campaign infrastructure early to establish a statewide presence, opening 10 offices in Georgia by the end of May.
“We have to organize. We have to have local offices. We have to communicate and we have to make sure we have a presence in the community,” said Quentin Fulks, the Biden campaign’s chief deputy campaign manager.
Quentin Fulks manages Georgia Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock’s 2022 re-election campaign.
Charles Krupa/AP/Associated Press
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Fulks successfully ran for re-election in 2022 against Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock. got some Republican votes.
“I think the most important fact in the room is that we were able to get 9 percent of Republicans to vote for Senator Warnock,” Fulks said in an interview. The Biden campaign is increasingly realizing that important lessons from 2022 can be replicated in 2024, convincing some Republicans who supported former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley in the primary to come forward this fall in the general election. Vote for Biden.
The campaign believes these Republicans, who do not want to see Trump return to the White House, may be attracted by messages about democracy – such as former Republican Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan, who endorsed Biden earlier this month.
Martha Shockey of the progressive group Indivisible said concerns about reproductive rights have fueled interest in Biden’s re-election campaign.
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Biden supporters divided on some issues
The challenge for Biden is not only convincing new voters but also keeping those who voted for him last time in the tent. There appear to be competing forces at play. This is the first presidential election since the Supreme Court struck down abortion rights. Martha Shockey of the progressive group Indivisible said reproductive rights could be a huge motivating factor for voters.
“Every month when we meet, three to five volunteers show up, which actually hasn’t happened before,” she said.
But Biden may also lose voters this time due to concerns about the economy and immigration. Blake Briese, 36, said he voted for Biden in 2020. He said he doesn’t blame Biden for inflation, but he does blame him for the chaos at the southern border.
“When you have another problem like we have at the border, but we’re sending billions of dollars [overseas]we can’t solve our problems, but we can solve other people’s problems, and that’s a very hard message,” he said.
Blake Briese, who voted for Biden in 2020, is leaning toward Trump this November.
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The Gaza war is also a big issue for Democrats
Historically, foreign policy issues have not been a priority for most Americans in presidential elections. But in multiple interviews with young, progressive voters of color, Israel’s war in Gaza consistently emerged as a factor fueling broader dissatisfaction with Biden, who supports Israel.
Marisa Pyle, 26, said she worked full-time on the 2020 statewide turnout campaign. “I don’t know how I would vote if the election were held today because I am so scared of a Donald Trump presidency, but I also want to be able to accept myself,” she said. She said she felt complicit in the deaths of thousands of civilians in Gaza because Israeli forces were using American weapons.
Adrian Consonari said he was shocked by the images of civilian deaths in Gaza and didn’t know if he could support President Biden again.
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Polls show a majority of young voters disapprove of Biden’s handling of the war. While only a small minority said it was their top priority, Biden could not afford to lose too many votes in a state he won by fewer than 12,000 votes.
“It’s really disturbing to see a child who’s not breathing anymore,” said Adrian Consonery, 24, who also has yet to commit to Biden. “I just – I need to feel comfortable. That’s the only strategy right now [stage]. That’s the only thing that’s going to happen now that will prevent Trump from being elected – if you can make me feel comfortable putting you in power.
