Finally President Joseph Biden announced that he is in the fray for the 2024 election. To start with there was the expected relief in many quarters that the occupant of the White House made up his mind; but he has been dropping enough hints in the last several months that he is running for an office that will certainly be his last of his 50 years or more of distinguished service to America. If elected for a second term he will be 82 and 86 years old when he finishes another four years. As it is he is the oldest President of the United States and many are seriously wondering and worried if he has the physical stamina to get through a grueling campaign and another stressful term.
Whether President Biden should be given another four years is for Americans to decide; but surely his track record of the last four years as President will be fair game to political opponents who are quite capable of taking cheap shots in the name of campaigning. But Biden is not new to this game for ever since he flirted with the idea of Presidency in 1984, he knows well how all this will fan out, not just to the contenders in the Grand Old Party but in the media as well. Already the count has begun on how many times he stumbled on names and designations but also on the frequency of missing a step or two in boarding Air Force One.
In making his case for another four years President Biden argued that the battle for the “soul” of America is still on with extremist Republicans still focused on taking away rights and dividing the nation. “The question we are facing is whether in the years ahead we have more freedom or less freedom, more rights or fewer. I know what I want the answer to be. This is not a time to be complacent. That’s why I’m running for re-election” the President said in the video message. But the seasoned politician is also aware that rights and divisiveness alone will not be deciding factors. In a country where foreign policy hardly matters in a Presidential or Congressional race, it all comes down to economics—the state of the economy, jobs, prices and inflation.
The 2024 election will be of prime attention to the Indian American community. A major political force in the electoral map both Democrats and Republicans will be vigorously seeking attention of a group that has made its mark in all fields. In making their choice at the primaries and eventually in November 2024, the community will undoubtedly see which is the best ticket to serve their interests as well as that of the United States. The conventional wisdom is that it does not matter whether it is a Democrat or Republican at the Oval Office, for relations between India and the United States is only bound to get better as the last two decades have shown.
The writer is Editor-in-Chief of New India Abroad ®
