Analyst: Blumenthal using midterms as a barometer for support for Biden in 2024

Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal is using midterms as a barometer for support for US President Joe Biden in 2024, according to an American political analyst and activist.

In an interview with Press TV on Sunday, Myles Hoenig, a former Green Party candidate for Congress, said that Blumenthal's support of Biden depends in part on November’s midterm elections.

Blumenthal said on Sunday that the midterms will determine how successful Biden will be as a candidate in 2024.

During a joint appearance on CNN alongside Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), moderator Dana Bash asked Blumenthal if Biden is the best candidate for the Democrats in 2024.

“I’m gonna be very blunt and very honest with you,” Blumenthal replied to Bash. “My focus is totally on this November because I am running for reelection.”

“But also I think this November’s gonna determine how successful President Biden is in the next two years and how strong he would be as a candidate.”

Republicans are in the lead to control the US House of Representatives after this year’s midterm elections, with 230 seats projected for the GOP and 205 for Democrats, according to a new CBS News Battleground Tracker.

Republican victories in 230 districts would give GOP 12 seats more than the 218 required to control the House, the poll showed, according to The Hill. 

And more Democrats reported being incited to vote by former President Donald Trump than by their own party leader.

Only 39 percent of Democrats say their midterm vote is “a lot” about President Joe Biden, compared to 62 percent of Republicans.

Other polls have also depicted a gloomy landscape for Democrats as they gear up for the 2022 midterm elections.

‘Blumenthal's support of Biden depends in part on midterms’

Hoenig said, “Blumenthal is putting a lot of weight behind this November’s election as to the success of Biden in 2024.”

“It seems like he’s setting up Biden to withdraw from the race as the Democrats are likely to take a big hit. If this likelihood does occur, a lot of blame will be on Biden when the blame should be on the entire Democratic Party, Squad and all,” he stated.

“The House is most likely to switch hands. The Senate is up for grabs. But this is typical of a mid-election for a 1st term president, of any party. If the Democratic Party can’t successfully use the Supreme Court’s abortion ban to its benefit, then virtually nothing they can do will show that they’re able to with win elections in the near future, even when they normally have a plurality of votes in presidential elections,” he said.

“Blumenthal, like others, are being coy about whether he’ll support Biden in 2024. He’s basing it on this upcoming midterm election. If the Democrats take a ‘shellacking’ as occurred under Obama’s watch, then the pressure will be on Biden to withdraw and the party would need to find someone capable of winning. In this scenario, bringing out the old guard, like Hillary Clinton, will make electing a Democrat very doubtful,” the analyst concluded.  

Biden has proven a disappointment for many who voted him into office last year, with 16 percent of those surveyed saying he has done a worse job as president than they expected. Overall, 46 percent of Americans hold that view.

More worrying for Biden, another new survey by Emerson College has found that Trump would beat the incumbent by two points – 45 to 43 percent - if the election was held today.

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