WASHINGTON: Only 37 percent Democrats want President Joe Biden to seek re-election in 2024 while 70 percent of general voters do not want him to seek a second term.

The findings of these recent opinion polls were highlighted in the US media on Friday, two days after President Biden indicated in his state of the union speech that he is interested in a second term.

The speech was devoted almost entirely to domestic issues that matter most to American voters – economic and administrative reforms, bringing jobs back to America and reviving the American industry.

It was a long speech – one hour and 13 minutes, beating his last year’s state of the union speech by 11 minutes. Yet, there’s little space for foreign policy issues. He did talk about China and Ukraine though, briefly. China, which is often described as America’s enemy number one, got about 200 words in a more than 7,000-word speech.

Obviously, yesterday’s issues, like Afghanistan and Pakistan, got no mention.

“The speech had to make Democrats more comfortable with the idea of Biden as the standard-bearer again in 2024,” commented the National Public Radio (NPR) while explaining why domestic issues dominated the address.

Yet, the majority in Mr. Biden’s own party does not want him to run again. A new Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll shows that just 37 percent of Democrats support his bid for a second term, down from 52 percent before last year’s midterm elections. Overall, only 41 percent approve of how Biden is handling his job as president.

An earlier, CNBC-All America Economic Survey showed that he is even more unpopular among general voters. About 70 percent of those polled said Mr. Biden should not run for a second term.

But 61 percent of voters also opposed former president Donald Trump’s effort to seek another term. Most prefer fresh candidates from both Democratic and Republican parties, but no one knows who.

US media reports have published a list of about 10 candidates from each of the two parties.

Number one on the Democrats’ list is California Governor Gavin Newsome. Donald Trump tops the Republican list.

Others on the Democratic list include West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, Louisiana Governor John Edwards, and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

Some of them ran against Mr. Biden in 2020 but lost the primary to Mr. Biden.

The Republican list includes Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence, Congresswoman Liz Cheney, Mike Pompeo, former Kansas representative, CIA director, and Secretary of State, Virginia Governor Glenn Younkin and Texas Senator Ted Cruz.

While the Democratic field is wide open because of Mr. Biden’s declining support, most observers agree that it will be difficult for any Republican to win a primary against Mr. Trump.

Published in Dawn, February 11th, 2023