President Joe Biden’s motorcade drove through deep blue Atlanta with little fanfare this weekend, leaving many wondering about the enthusiasm of his 2024 campaign.
In 2020, the president became the first Democrat in 30 years to win a presidential election in Georgia. The party also won both Senate seats in the southern state.
But the state’s landscape has changed significantly in the past four years, with recent polls suggesting former President Donald Trump has the lead in the Peach State.
On Saturday, video showed his motorcade driving through Atlanta’s Buckhead neighborhood, with only a dozen people on the street to greet or catch a glimpse.
As RNC Research’s conservative report put it, “If a presidential motorcade passes through town, but no one cares, did it really pass through town?”
The president was in town this weekend to deliver the commencement address at Morehouse College, a historically black institution.
President Joe Biden’s motorcade drove through deep blue Atlanta this weekend with little fanfare, leaving many wondering about the enthusiasm of his 2024 campaign
On Saturday, video showed his motorcade driving through Atlanta’s Buckhead neighborhood, with only a dozen people on the street to greet or catch a glimpse.
Biden, according to a new analysis by the New York Timeshas lost some support among black, people of color and younger voters in Georgia.
These groups played a major role in his 2020 victory, which he narrowly eked out by about 12,000 votes, signaling a much tougher battle in the state as the November election approaches.
The Georgian population has grown and become more diverse in recent years.
In 2020, this, along with years of voter registration and mobilization efforts with historically disenfranchised groups, helped Democrats make gains in expanding suburbs in cities like Atlanta.
The momentum was also driven by racial justice protests following the killing of George Floyd, which received widespread attention in Atlanta.
The administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic and glaring inequality in access to health care also gave Democrats plenty of opportunities to win over voters.
However, Trump and his team attempted to overturn the loss in Georgia, which led to criminal charges against them.
Trump is now receiving support as a result of the response to the case filed against him, the New York Times reports.
President Joe Biden told Black graduates on Sunday that former President Donald Trump and his Republican allies “don’t see you in the future of America” in a fiery attack on race
Recent polls show former President Donald Trump leading in Georgia
The cases “seek to criminalize political disagreement,” Joshua McKoon, the chairman of the Georgia Republican Party, said Friday.
Democrats are also concerned that voter turnout won’t be the same as 2020 without the motivating factors of the protests and the pandemic.
“I think people understand the importance of the election, but there’s a certain — just fatigue,” Sam Park, a Georgia Democrat, told the Times.
Local Democratic activists are also concerned that some voter groups that supported Biden in 2020 have since become disillusioned, the release said.
Those on the ground report that there is deep anger over Biden’s failure to be tougher on Israel over its actions in Gaza, as well as the party’s inability to address issues such as the rising cost of housing and student debt.
Others say the real problem is not Democrats’ failure to address the issues voters care about, but their inability to successfully communicate their achievements.
They argue that low unemployment in the Black community, large amounts of federal funds sent to the state for pandemic relief and infrastructure, and the administration’s efforts to cancel student loans are all notable achievements.
“These things should not be secrets,” Bishop Reginald T. Jackson, presiding prelate of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in Georgia, told the Times.
President Joe Biden arrived in Atlanta a day before the start of Morehouse and met with prominent alumni on the tarmac, including Senator Raphael Warnock (third from left). He placed his hands on the shoulders of Trade Policy Advisory Committee member Marlon Kimpson
He then spoke to supporters at Mary Mac’s Tea Room, telling them he felt good about his chances in the November election and urging them not to be discouraged by the polls as former President Donald Trump continues to lose votes in the Republican Party primaries.
Democrats are aware of the need to craft a narrative in the swing state and are poised to launch a $14 million advertising blitz in the state later this month.
“I’m not saying this is easy,” Quentin Fulks, Biden’s top deputy campaign manager, who is also from Georgia, told the Times.
He added, “But I do think we have a formula that is conducive to accepting that message.”