Photo: President Joe Biden stands with Tina Kotek, the Oregon Democratic nominee for governor, as he speaks during a grassroots volunteer event with the Oregon Democrats at the SEIU Local 49 in Portland, Ore.
President Joe Biden strode into the telephone bank at a crowded union hall and eagerly began making calls and eating doughnuts — one frosted, one glazed — as he tries every page in the political playbook to deliver votes for Democrats.
“What a governor does matters,” Biden said in a pep talk to volunteers who were making Friday night calls for Oregon gubernatorial hopeful Tina Kotek and other candidates. “It matters! It matters, it matters, it matters!”
Before leaving Portland on Saturday, the president attended a union hall reception for Kotek as he tried to boost her chances in a three-way race that could cost Democrats a reliably blue governor’s seat. He also gave a speech at a community center, warning that his administration’s progress “goes away, gone” if Republicans take control of Congress in the midterm elections.
Portland was the final stop on a four-day swing through Oregon, California and Colorado that has encapsulated Biden’s strategy for turning out voters on Election Day, Nov. 8: flex the levers of government to help boost candidates, promote an agenda aimed at strengthening an uncertain economy and haul in campaign cash.
And this: show up for candidates when Biden can be helpful, steer clear of places where a visit from a president with approval ratings under 50% isn’t necessarily a good thing.
Throughout the trip, Biden had to compete for the spotlight and contend with a troubling new inflation report and rising gas prices.
“Folks are still struggling. We can’t kid ourselves about that,” Biden said Saturday.
He touted Democratic legislation that he says will fight climate change with clean energy incentives and limit the cost of prescription drugs, saying that “we’re fighting for folks who need our help.”
In Oregon, Democratic officials hope that Biden can help consolidate the party’s support behind Kotek. The party is in danger of losing the governor’s race in the traditional Democratic stronghold as Betsy Johnson — who has quit both the Democratic and Republican parties — has run a well-financed race against Kotek and the GOP nominee Christine Drazan.
Biden said Kotek has the “heart of a lion,” and he described her as “an articulate, tough, committed woman.”
The settings throughout the president’s trip were tailor-made for him.
In Los Angeles on Thursday, at a construction site for an extension on the city’s subway line, he spoke about his massive infrastructure law. Giant cranes rose up behind him as he stood before bulldozers and excavators. Many on hand were hard-hat workers in construction orange.
The stop neatly combined many of Biden’s agenda’s successes: investments in infrastructure, job creation, fighting climate change by promoting mass transit.
“When you see these projects in your neighborhood — cranes going up, shovels in the ground, lives being changed — I want you to feel the way I do: pride,” Biden said. “Pride in what we can do when we do it together. This is what I mean when I say we’re building a better America.”
But his remarks came as the government reported that consumer prices, excluding volatile food and energy costs, jumped 6.6% in September from a year ago — the fastest such pace in four decades. Biden acknowledged that people were being “squeezed by the cost of living. It’s been true for years, and folks don’t need a report to tell them they’re being squeezed.”
Democratic candidates have been far more likely to appear with Biden at official White House events underscoring their achievements than at overt campaign events. In California, Biden was joined by state lawmakers and the city’s mayor, and he called them out individually. Rep. Karen Bass, who is running for mayor of Los Angeles, made a takeout run with Biden to a taco shop.
Biden raised $5 million at a fundraiser in the Brentwood backyard of TV producer Marcy Carsey. Guests included fashion designer Tom Ford and actor-filmmaker Rob Reiner.
In Colorado, the president designated the first national monument of his administration at Camp Hale, a World War II-era training site, with a group of Democrats by his side. His audience in a canyon of stunning views, tall pines and bright yellow aspens included Sen. Michael Bennet, who is facing a tough reelection campaign and had worked for the new monument. Democrats hope the designation, popular in the state, will boost Bennet’s numbers.
Early voting is underway in California and begins next week in Oregon and Colorado. The president notably stayed away from states where his presence could hurt Democrats, so far skipping Nevada and Arizona, where Democratic senators are tough races.
Democrats are trying to retain power in the face of widespread economic uncertainty and the traditional midterm headwinds against the party in power. Republicans, aiming to regain the House and Senate, think they can capitalize on gas prices, inflation and the economy.
During his taco stop, Biden’s chicken quesadilla order ran to $16.45, but he handed the clerk $60 and asked him to use the change to pay the next patron’s bill.
It was the kind of personal connection Biden loves. But while the moment was unfolding, the headlines in Los Angeles focused on a bitter City Council clash over racist remarks, while in Washington, it was all about how the House voted to subpoena former President Donald Trump on his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection.
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Follow AP for full coverage of the midterms at https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections and on Twitter, https://twitter.com/ap_politics
5 thoughts on “Biden’s late push across West aims to deliver votes for Dems – Associated Press”
Typical AP gibberish.
“Folks are still struggling. We can’t kid ourselves about that,” Biden said Saturday.
Wooo, wooo, here comes The Clue Train, next stop is Joe “Election Thief” Biden.
Everyone is struggling because of the Radical Left Democrat’s insane policies on crime, border, Fentanyl, inflation, sending money into the Ukrainian abyss, ad nauseam. But AP won’t tell you that.
Everyone is struggling because of the Radical Left Democrat’s clear goal to use every filthy trick in the book to turn the US into a Democrat Dictatorship. But AP won’t tell you that.
Everyone is struggling because the Democrats, including The Space Clown and Blondie the Fake Firebrand are spending money just as fast as they can steal it from today’s taxpayer and (HERE’S THE SCARY PART), just as fast as they can steal it from future taxpayers. But AP won’t tell you that.
For Joe Biden to play the sympathy card, i.e. pretending he’s on our side, is just plain pathetic. AP won’t tell you that, but I will.
And of course, AP just can’t resist the opportunity to take a good ol’ AP cheap shot at Donald Trump.
“…while in Washington, it was all about how the House voted to subpoena former President Donald Trump on his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection.”
FACT: the subpoena was issued by the clowns in the Radical Left Democrat Party to try to distract everyone from THE DREADFUL NEWS ON INFLATION. Sorry, AP, you clowns can’t fool us, INFLATION is what the talk in Washington is all about, especially for all the Democrats that are in a wonderful, amusing state of total panic about their impending midterm disaster.
FACT: nobody cares about the Kangaroo Court Clown Show Jan 6th Commission That Before It Began Deemed That Trump is Guilty of (Fill-in-the-filthy-Democrat-blank). We all know it’s fake. We all know it’s a gigantic waste of taxpayer money. We all know it’s the last act of the desperate, failing, pathetic Democrat Party. We all know the Democrat Party is a party of pathetic clowns.
You tell em’ Ryan. Yes, I believe Biden on the campaign trail (or any trail) is good news for Republicans across the country. Anyone with an I.Q. higher than room temperature can see the Prez is incompetent and incapable of making rational decisions. No doubt the Obama inner circle is providing the info he is uttering as his limited time on duty is limited by his health.
Lets provide America with a blocking action on spending and law creation by taking back congress on November 8th. Lets Make America Great Again.
Tom is absolutely right, we need blocking action on the insane spending by the Democrat Radical Left. If there’s an existential threat to life as we know it in the USA, it’s the completely out-of-control spending, courtesy of Mark Kelly, Kyrsten Sinema and the rest of the totally incompetent Democrat Party.
For guidance on the best candidates to vote for to implement blocking action and for guidance on the the DECEPTIVE LANGUAGE used in the various Propositions like the nonsensical “Voter’s Right to Know Act” and the idiotic “Predatory Debt Collection Protection Act”, see the Republican Golden Ticket at http://www.yavgop.org.
And, good grief, why is something as idiotic as “Tuition Amnesty for Illegals” on the ballot? What, honest people pay for both themselves and they also pay for criminal illegal aliens? STOP THE MADNESS!! THERE IS NO TUITION AMNESTY!! THE TAXPAYER PAYS!!!
Per the Yavapai County Republican website:
VOTE YES ON Propositions 128, 129, 130, 131, 132 and 309
VOTE NO ON Propositions 209, 308, 310 and 211
Beware the deceptive, confusing titles and language used for some of the Propositions, some of whom are funded and pushed by Radical Leftists from California. GET INFORMED!! See the excellent YAVGOP website for detailed explanations. Or you can see the same guidance at LD27GOP.com for residents here in the Peoria area.
And VOTE IN PERSON!! It makes it harder for the Radical Left Democrats to cheat!!
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