[1/2]FU.S. President Joe Biden delivers economic remarks at Auburn Manufacturing, a company that manufactures heat and fire resistant fabrics for a variety of industrial applications in the United States and abroad, July 28, 2023 in Auburn, Maine, USA. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst /File Photo
WILMINGTON, Delaware, Aug 7 (Reuters) – President Joe Biden on Monday begins a visit to three western U.S. states to revitalize his reelection by highlighting recent economic gains and funding for new infrastructure projects.
Biden’s trip to New Mexico, Utah and key campaigning ground Arizona provides a stark contrast to the controversy surrounding his biggest Republican rival, former President Donald Trump, who was indicted last week for the third time in four months, this time on wide charges Attempts to overturn the 2020 election.
Biden, who vacationed in his home state of Delaware last week, declined to comment on the struggles and woes of his predecessor, who is likely to be his opponent in the 2024 presidential campaign.
Biden’s re-election strategy focuses on convincing a cynical American public of the strengths of the economy and that his policies are helping.
Recent polls show that making such an argument will be a challenge as voters rant about inflation, even as the US economy has beaten recession warnings with record-low unemployment, strong wage increases and better-than-expected growth.
According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released last week, some Americans who voted for Biden in 2020 say they believe the economy has fared badly under his leadership and they may not vote for him in the 2024 election.
About half of those who voted for Biden in 2020 said they had heard little or nothing about his key policy initiatives to lower inflation or boost infrastructure spending.
Biden and his Democrats pushed legislation through Congress that would allocate about $1.5 trillion to new bridge, road, climate and manufacturing projects.
Democratic strategist Jennifer Holdsworth said this week’s trip would counter a message being carried by the country’s right-wing media that skews the economy and Biden’s legislative agenda.
“When President Biden gets on the campaign trail, I think you’re going to find that trend starting to change,” she said.
Senior White House officials and Cabinet members will travel across the country this week to publicize the administration’s accomplishments, including at least a dozen events by department heads, advisers and Vice President Kamala Harris. Across the country, construction sites related to the proposed legislation will be marked with signs announcing Biden’s role.
Biden is expected to travel to Arizona on Monday night before an event on Tuesday where he will tout investments in conservation and protection of natural resources, as well as his signature climate change law, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
Arizona has emerged as a key battleground state that the Biden campaign will target with money and resources. Biden won the state by less than a percentage point in 2020, four years after Trump won the state by 3.5 percentage points.
On Wednesday, Biden will be in New Mexico to highlight the IRA’s role in the clean energy production boom, a year after the law was signed. On Thursday he will be at a veterans facility in Utah to mark the anniversary of the PACT Act, which provides assistance to veterans sickened by fumes from military toxic pits.
Biden is also expected to conduct campaign fundraisers during his west trip.
Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw; Additional reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Adaptation by Heather Timmons, Leslie Adler and Christina Fincher
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