President Biden’s reelection campaign sees winning Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania as the clearest path to gaining 270 electoral votes in November, according to an internal memo obtained by the Hill.
The memo, sent to the campaign team from chair Jen O’Malley Dillon and campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez, outlines that “what has changed following the debate is that the urgency and discipline with which we need to pursue” key initiatives, such as having “multiple pathways to 270” and showing the strength of Biden’s accomplishments.
“Most importantly, we maintain multiple pathways to 270 electoral votes. Right now, winning the Blue Wall states – MI, WI, and PA – is the clearest pathway to that aim, but we also believe that the sunbelt states are not out of reach,” the memo said. “The consensus across internal and public polling is that the toplines in the Blue Wall states largely remain within the margin-of-error.”
Additionally, the memo was adamant that only Biden can beat former President Trump and argued that polls that look at other Democrats over Biden are “unreliable.”
“In addition to what we believe is a clear pathway ahead for us, there is also no indication that anyone else would outperform the president vs. Trump. Hypothetical polling of alternative nominees will always be unreliable, and surveys do not take into account the negative media environment that any Democratic nominee will encounter,” the memo said. “The only Democratic candidate for whom this is already baked in is President Biden.”
And it called the debate a “setback” while expressing optimism that Biden can move forward. Meanwhile, 11 sitting Democratic lawmakers so far have called on Biden to drop out of the 2024 race, including Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), and the White House has faced ongoing questions about his age and stamina.
“No one is denying that the debate was a setback. But Joe Biden and this campaign have made it through setbacks before,” the memo read. “We are clear eyed about what we need to do to win. And we will win by moving forward, unified as a party, so that every single day between now and election day we focus on defeating Donald Trump.”
It also outlined that “while there is no question there is increased anxiety following the debate,” they don’t think there has been a dramatic shift in polling and pointed to the ABC/Ipsos poll on Thursday that showed Biden and Trump tied.
In order to win Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, the memo noted that Biden has rallied supporters in Madison and Philadelphia so far and plans to travel to Detroit on Friday. Additionally, Vice President Harris was in Nevada on Tuesday and is in North Carolina on Thursday, while first lady Jill Biden was in Georgia, North Carolina and Florida on Monday.