Obama Grappling with ‘Real’ Election Anxiety as He’s ‘Whispering’ Advice to Biden: Report

Former President Barack Obama is ready and willing to do what he can to help the Democrat incumbent stave off a fierce Republican challenger in the 2024 general election — but he’s still pretty worried about it, according to a new report.

A fascinating Monday report from New York Magazine actually peeled back some layers from Obama’s typically cool-as-a-cucumber demeanor and revealed a former president who may very well see some of the writing on the wall when it comes to the presumed 2024 general election rematch between President Joe Biden and presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump.

And the writing doesn’t have many kind words for Biden.

The report first broaches the topic of the outside perception of Obama and Biden’s sometimes-frosty relationship.

In short, while some Democrats see and feel a strain between the two, many of those Democrats are also assuming that Obama has some grand plan to boost his former vice president. The report described it as a “contradictorily”-type of belief.

The report states: “As the rumor mill had it, Obama was especially unnerved about the race, which Biden was losing, if swing-state polls were to be believed.

“Not only that, the 44th president had supposedly urged the 46th to install a trusted senior adviser or two at his campaign headquarters in Wilmington — someone like Obama’s 2008 campaign manager David Plouffe — rather than keeping his inner circle intact in Washington.

“As the whispers circulated, so did the confusion: Obama’s freaking out? And he wants Biden to hire Plouffe to fix the campaign?“

The report then notes that the root of Obama’s “anxiety” comes from a familiar place, at least in Democrat circles.

“Though ‘his anxiety about the election is real,’ in the words of one Obama friend, the ex-president’s concerns sounded a lot like those of other top Democrats, according to others who’ve spoken with him,” the report notes. “Those who are in regular touch with Obama say these nerves are not a reflection of any particular angst about Biden or his team but of the broader reality:

“The country is closely divided, the media landscape is fractured, and Donald Trump may very well win.

“Obama has always acknowledged to friends and worried supporters in search of reassurance that the race is likely to be a nail-biter.

“Yet he has remained careful about not evincing any specific concern or complacency about the campaign, aware that reports about his feelings are unlikely to help the Democratic cause.”

The report then quickly adds: “None of which is to say he’s exactly holding back.”

Indeed, the report outlines a number of ways in which Obama has become “increasingly involved” in Biden’s re-election bid, despite an early inclination not to.

“This year’s race has been a fundamentally different story from the start,” the report states. “Without having to scale a hobbling primary campaign into a national one amid a pandemic, and with the benefit of three years of incumbency, Biden and his aides saw little reason to rely on Obama so heavily again.

“Obama spoke occasionally to both the president and some of his top aides when they had questions or he was interested in hearing updates, but he mostly sat back and focused on his own foundation, giving paid speeches, and working as a producer.

“He was confident that the Democrats knew where to find him whenever they needed him. By late 2023, as the rematch between Biden and Trump became obvious, they came calling.”

Once the Democrats came to Obama, the former president was quick to lend his thoughts on “campaign mechanics.”

(Some Obama focuses include: More field offices on the campaign trail, tactics to target young, black and Latino voters, and having Obama more “in the loop” with Biden’s thinking.)

And while Obama will clearly continue to whisper these thoughts in Biden’s ear (the piece is actually entitled “What Obama Is Whispering to Biden”), the report expects the 44th president to become a far more public figure “once Election day is in view.”

Regardless of Obama’s plans and whatever he may be whispering to Biden, the two of them have their work cut out for them, given the state of polling.

The first major test for Biden and his aides — including Obama, apparently — will come Thursday, when he and Trump will face off on CNN for the first of two scheduled presidential debates.