The resumes of President Joe Biden’s latest re-election campaign additions signaled anything but a swing to the moderate middle moving forward.
Tanking favorability and a slew of challengers for the Democratic Party nomination hasn’t stymied the power players behind the incumbent from advancing the strategy to hold onto the White House. In building a team to execute that plan, a new hire who previously worked for New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez suggested to some that the lean to the left was only going to get harder.
Saturday, Politico’s Elena Schneider reported on two progressive picks for the campaign team that included the congresswoman’s now-former communications director, Lauren Hitt, and Andy Crystal, a former researcher for comedian commentators Jon Stewart and Hasan Minhaj.
Sharing a post from Schneider on X, Hitt confirmed the news she would be joining the campaign as a senior spokesperson by stating, “Pretty excited to be joining this very talented team and incredibly important fight.”
Pretty excited to be joining this very talented team and incredibly important fight. https://t.co/ehrfAUntPd
— Lauren Hitt (@LaurenHitt) January 14, 2024
Hitt shared a report from Politico’s Elena Schneider who also noted that Biden’s team was adding Crystal.
Noting that Kevin Munoz would take on the role of senior national spokesperson, Deadline reported, “Hitt and Munoz will report to TJ Ducklo, senior adviser for communications.”
The moves by the Biden campaign also included the recently reported planned departure of Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry who was expected to leave the administration before the spring to hit the trail for the re-election effort.
Biden’s communications director Michael Tyler said in a statement to Politico, “We’re excited to welcome Andy and Lauren to the already talented and fierce communications team working to reelect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. I’m also proud to recognize Kevin’s invaluable role representing our campaign since launch and communicating the president’s vision directly to voters.”
Taking in Ocasio-Cortez’s former communications director to hold a spokesperson position for Biden appeared to signal a shift further leftward. However, a source close to the campaign described the staffing decisions as part of a plan of “broadening the campaign.”
“Everyone I’ve spoken to on the campaign is working diligently on broadening the campaign to win. They’re staffing up at all levels including at the leadership level, which is totally appropriate at this point,” the source told The Hill.
According to a recent CBS News/YouGov poll, Biden loses out to whoever of the remaining primary field gets nominated to represent the Republican Party in November, whether it be former President Donald Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis or former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley — each attaining 50% or more of the vote in head-to-head matchups.
With third-party players like environmental lawyer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and activist Cornel West still in play, potentially siphoning votes away from the incumbent, apathy at the polls from the progressive wing of Democrat voters would likely dampen Biden’s re-election hopes.
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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