As the troubles keep piling up?
And Trump strikes out?
President Joe Biden & Co. keep their mouths shut…..
‘No Comment’…..
So far?
It’s working…..
Biden’s poll numbers vs Trump ARE getting Better…..
The decision by the White House and Biden’s campaign to not comment on his predecessor’s growing criminal trouble — this time connected to the Jan. 6 insurrection — is rooted in the president’s promise to avoid appearances of interfering with the Department of Justice’s work.
But it also hints at what is likely to become a broader Biden campaign strategy: There will be plenty of other people who will do that work for him. And if the 2024 conversation is about Trump, the best option for Biden is to simply get off the stage.
Biden advisers have watched the nonstop news coverage of the target letter sent from special counsel Jack Smith to Trump this week advising the former president that charges may be coming soon connected to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and stay in power. That media frenzy echoed the blanket coverage that followed Trump’s two previous indictments — one in New York on his business dealings, the other over his handling of classified documents after leaving office. Biden allies believe that the press’ focus on the story line will only accelerate in the months ahead, as court dates approach and, perhaps, more indictments are unsealed.
It’s easy to imagine — as Biden aides have been privately discussing — that Trump spends part of his 2024 campaign having to shuttle from one court date to the next, standing trial in multiple cases, spawning negative headline after negative headline. And while Trump will surely play the victim to fire up his base, Biden’s aides believe his time as a repeated criminal defendant will almost certainly turn off the independent and swing voters who often decide elections.
If Trump’s campaign shows signs of collapsing under the weight of the myriad criminal proceedings, the Biden team feels its best approach may just be to stand back and not engage…..
Recent Biden/Trump polls…..
| Poll | Date | Sample | MoE |
Biden (D) *
|
Trump (R)
|
Spread |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RCP Average | 6/12 – 7/17 | — | — | 44.0 | 43.6 | Biden +0.4 |
| Quinnipiac | 7/13 – 7/17 | 1809 RV | 2.3 | 49 | 44 | Biden +5 |
| Yahoo | 7/13 – 7/17 | 1098 RV | — | 47 | 43 | Biden +4 |
| M. Consult | 7/14 – 7/16 | 6000 RV | 1.0 | 43 | 41 | Biden +2 |
| YouGov | 7/8 – 7/11 | 1296 RV | 2.9 | 42 | 42 | Tie |