Jim Messina is a legend in Democratic Party politics. A former adviser to Barack Obama, Messina was one of the members of the brains trust that had catapulted the junior senator from Illinois into becoming America’s first African-American president. 

A stalwart and brilliant Democratic Party strategist, Messina has been carrying on about how the re-election campaign for President Joe Biden has not yet hit its mark in selling Bidenomics to the American people. 

Former Obama adviser David Axelrod has made similar comments. So, too, have other prominent Democrats heading into the 2024 Presidential Election cycle.

One must marvel at the chutzpah of these otherwise intelligent strategists—men who made even the lame turkey that was Barack Obama’s presidency fly—for believing their problem with the American people is purely a PR one. They’re not selling Bidenomics hard enough. 

As someone who is not a Democrat but is a well-honed political observer, believe me, the Biden Campaign is selling the heck out of Joe Biden’s economic plans. 

In fact, they’re downright shoving Bidenomics down our throats. It’s just that no one wants what they’re selling.

Joe Biden Lacks Charisma

Even Barack Obama, whose presidency was mediocre at best, was able to overcome the many failures of his administration with a winning personality and a compelling backstory. His successor (and great political foe), Donald J. Trump, similarly has a magnetism in the media that gives him decisive advantages when selling voters on Trump’s otherwise mixed presidential record.  

Joe Biden doesn’t have that presence in the press that many of his predecessors had. As the oldest man to inhabit the White House—as well as the oldest man to ever run for reelection in American history—Biden has several negatives weighing him down. 

Add to that a truly turgid economy coupled with a global order that increasingly appears to be on the brink of a world war, and Biden’s negatives far outweigh his positives in the eyes of most voters. 

No amount of salesmanship, especially in light of Biden’s sclerotic appearance and slurred speechifying, by the Democrats will change these perceptions among most voters.

I have said for months that national polls—especially this early into the election cycle—are next to useless in terms of predicting who will ultimately win the election in 2024. A far better indicator of who might pull a win out of what will assuredly be a toxic miasma in 2024 are polls of key swing state voters. 

And, right now, Donald Trump is doing well in most swing states and up by 5 points national against Joe Biden in a recent NBC Poll. 

What Happens Now? 

Joe Biden has been the worst president in this country’s history since James Buchanan broke the Union on the eve of the Civil War. 

Jim Messina and the other former Obama braintrust members have lost their minds if they think Biden’s only problem is one of PR. This, too, tickles me endlessly seeing the purportedly smartest people in the room lose their political senses to save a candidate like Biden, who would be abandoned if we were living in a saner, better time than we are.

About the Author

An energy analyst at the The-Pipeline, Brandon J. Weichert is a former Congressional staffer and geopolitical analyst who is a contributor at The Washington Times, as well as at the Asia Times. He is the author of Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower (Republic Book Publishers), Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life (Encounter Books), and The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy. Weichert occasionally serves as a Subject Matter Expert for various organizations, including the Department of Defense. He writes opinion pieces for this publication.