Biden Tests 2024 Themes, and Himself at 80, in a Swing State
President sought to shore up Democrats’ union base in key battleground state
US President Joe Biden speaks about his economic plan at a union training center in DeForest, on Feb. 8.
Photographer: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
Joe Biden wanted a show of strength and found it in a union hall in Wisconsin -- a state Democrats learned the hard way that they can’t ignore, and one where the president sent his strongest signal yet of a reelection bid.
The trip this week, on the heels of the State of the Union address, plucked Biden from the bruising fray of Washington and dropped him in front of a friendly crowd near Madison, a heavily Democratic part of a swing state that will help crown the winner of the 2024 election.