Leading Pennsylvania Democrats to miss Biden visit, blame scheduling conflicts

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HARRISBURG — President Joe Biden will appear in Pittsburgh on Friday as the first step in a broader campaign to promote White House achievements in key states ahead of the midterm elections.

But two of Pennsylvania’s three leading statewide polling Democrats this spring who have been asked to appear with Biden will not be present, their campaigns confirmed on the eve of the president’s visit.

Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, a leading Senate contender, and state Attorney General Josh Shapiro, the likely Democratic nominee in the gubernatorial race, will be absent due to scheduling conflicts, according to their spokespersons. Another top Senate candidate, Rep. Conor Lamb, a longtime Pittsburgh-based Biden supporter, will attend, his office confirmed. All three had been invited to participate in a photo session with the president.

The high-profile absences come as Democrats in other states have begun to take modest steps to distance themselves from the first-term president, whose approval ratings have fallen sharply in recent months. And while Fetterman and Shapiro have indicated that politics has no bearing on their schedules, their decisions to avoid Biden, particularly in his home state, could fuel further questions among anxious Democratic candidates elsewhere. as they decide whether or not to kiss the troubled president.

“Josh Shapiro is running for governor of Pennsylvania and he is focused on the issues that matter to Pennsylvania families,” Shapiro spokesman Will Simons said.

Shapiro made three appearances with Biden last summer and fall when the president’s numbers were better. But the gubernatorial candidate has a scheduling conflict this time around, Simons said, without detailing the conflict.

“As any American should, Josh wants our President to succeed and we will continue to welcome President Biden to his home state of Pennsylvania,” Simons said.

Pennsylvania’s leading Democrats who aren’t on the ballot this year haven’t had the same scheduling conflicts. Those who will appear with Biden on Friday include Governor Tom Wolf, whose term is limited, and Senator Bob Casey, whose current term runs until 2024.

The math has been different for vulnerable Democrats facing voters in 2022.

Earlier in the month, Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams, a leading gubernatorial contender in another swing state, skipped a chance to appear with the state’s president, citing an unspecified scheduling conflict. . And in the weeks that followed, several other notable Democrats also appeared to distance themselves from Biden.

Last week, Texas Democrat Beto O’Rourke said he didn’t need the Democratic president’s help in his campaign to become governor.

“I’m not interested in a national politician — anyone outside of Texas — coming to this state to help decide the outcome of this,” O’Rourke said, according to The Dallas Morning News. “I think we all want to make sure that we work, listen and vote with each other here in Texas.”

And this week, Rep. Steny Hoyer, the No. 3 House Democrat, declined to comment on whether vulnerable Democrats on the ballot this fall should adopt the “Biden Democrat” label.

“I want every Democrat to come out as Democrats delivering,” Hoyer told Politico when asked directly about “Biden Democrats.”

Former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell said he wasn’t surprised some Democratic candidates wanted to distance themselves from Biden, but he said those who did were “stupid.”

“They’re stupid because things can change quite dramatically in politics,” Rendell told The Associated Press. “You can’t hide. People end up thinking about you less because you don’t show up.

Fetterman, the outspoken lieutenant governor whose campaign headquarters is based in Pittsburgh, said he will miss Biden’s visit to that city to attend the Democratic state committee, which begins Friday night 200 miles away. east to Harrisburg.

“It’s great that President Biden is coming to Pittsburgh to talk about infrastructure,” Fetterman said. But he said he would be at the Harrisburg meeting to talk to Democrats about the midterm elections.

Lamb, meanwhile, one of Fetterman’s top opponents in the state Senate contest, is eager to hear Biden’s remarks on his sweeping infrastructure bill in person.

“President Biden announced his infrastructure plan for the first time in Pittsburgh, and Conor looks forward to welcoming him back and talking about all the good jobs this bill will create in the Pittsburgh area and throughout Pennsylvania,” said Lamb campaign manager Abby Nassif Murphy.

Malcolm Kenyatta, another prominent Democratic Senate candidate, was not invited to Biden’s appearance because he represents a different part of the state in the state legislature. But he praised the president when he had the chance. Like Lamb, Kenyatta traveled to early voting states in the 2020 presidential primary to campaign on Biden’s behalf.

“The longer he is here, the better,” Kenyatta said. “I wouldn’t be offended to be called a Democrat Biden. I have always considered myself a gifted democrat.

The White House announced Biden’s trip on Monday after the president said last week he would seek more out of Washington in the second year of his presidency.

Biden, who has seen his poll numbers plummet amid an unrelenting pandemic and high inflation, said it was important that he “get out there and talk to the public” about what he has accomplished and why Congress needs to support the rest of its domestic agenda.

While in Pittsburgh, Biden will focus on the economy, according to White House press secretary Jen Psaki.

“He’ll talk about how far we’ve come in reviving our economy, doing more here in America, and making sure all working people benefit,” Psaki told reporters at the White House on Thursday. “He will highlight the 367,000 manufacturing jobs our economy has created since taking office, and he will highlight the vital role the federal government can play in bringing workers and businesses together.

The tour will take Pennsylvania native Biden to a key battleground in this year’s congressional midterm elections. The battle to replace Republican Sen. Pat Toomey, who is not seeking re-election, is expected to be one of the most competitive Senate races this year.

Christopher Borick, director of the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion, said dwindling enthusiasm among Democrats across the country is an ominous sign for Pennsylvania Democrats’ hopes of capturing Toomey’s seat and keeping the job. of governor.

According to an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, only 28% of Americans say they want Biden to run for re-election in 2024, including only 48% of Democrats.

Along with Biden’s legislative setbacks, Borick noted that the president’s advanced age (he’s 79) and voter uncertainty over whether he’ll run for a second term – although he said that he would – affect the 2022 campaign.

But Borick said Biden “could have a rallying effect for Democrats” if he scores legislative successes closer to the election.

FILE – Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor and U.S. Senate candidate John Fetterman speaks during a rally supporting union organizing efforts at a cafe in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh, January 5, 2022. (AP Photo/ Keith Srakocic, File)AP

Casey, a three-term senator who will next face voters in 2024, said he urges elected Democrats to do a better job of Biden’s first-year accomplishments, such as the infrastructure bill, distributing vaccines, getting money to keep schools open, expanding the child tax credit and reducing unemployment.

“We need to do a much better job, and we’re starting to do that,” Casey said.

Steve Peoples and Marc Levy of the Associated Press wrote this story.

People reported from New York. Associated Press writers Aamer Madhani and Alexandra Jaffe in Washington contributed to this report.

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