Harris Campaign To Test Out Biden in Maryland Before Pennsylvania Tour

President Biden is expected to make his first campaign appearance Thursday since stepping out of the presidential race, as Vice President Harris’s campaign looks to strategically deploy the one-time Democratic nominee.Mr. Biden has also dropped off the radar in terms of public appearances and specifically, campaign events.That’s set to change Thursday, when Ms. Harris will campaign with Mr. Biden in Maryland, a safely Democratic state on the presidential level, which is also one of few states where Mr. Biden’s approval rating remains above water.According to Morning Consult’s presidential approval tracker, Mr. Biden maintains a positive 5 point approval rating in Maryland. The only other states where Mr. Biden enjoys a net positive approval rating are California and Vermont, which approve of Mr. Biden by 6 points and 13 points respectively.The event Thursday, where Mr. Biden is expected to “deliver remarks on the progress they are making to lower costs for the American people,” is a trial run of a potentially broader deployment of the lame duck president in the presidential race.In an interview with CBS News aired Sunday, Mr. Biden said that he was also “putting together a campaign tour in Pennsylvania,” where he would accompany the state’s governor, Josh Shapiro, who was also a Democratic vice presidential hopeful.“I was talking to Governor Shapiro, who’s a friend,” Mr. Biden said on CBS. “We have got to win Pennsylvania, my original home state. He and I are putting together a campaign tour in Pennsylvania. I’m going to be campaigning in other states as well. And I’m going to do whatever Kamala thinks I can do to help most.”Bringing Mr. Biden on the campaign trail could represent a risk for Ms. Harris’s campaign. In the interview with CBS News, Mr. Biden disclosed that one of the factors that swayed him to step aside was concern that his candidacy may have hurt down ballot Democrats in their races.“What happened was a number of my Democratic colleagues in the House and Senate thought that I was gonna hurt them in the races. And I was concerned if I stayed in the race, that would be the topic,” Mr. Biden said.In Maryland, Republicans have been angling to make the Senate race competitive since the state’s popular Republican governor, Larry Hogan, announced that he would run for the seat earlier this year. However, polling has suggested that the Democratic nominee, County Executive Angela Alsobrooks, still enjoys a significant advantage, with a recent Public Policy Polling survey showing she led Mr. Hogan by 8 points in a head to head matchup.The event Thursday will serve as a relatively low stakes opportunity for Ms. Harris’s campaign to test Mr. Biden’s performance on the campaign trail ahead of his tour of Pennsylvania, a key swing state where he is disapproved of by 15 points, according to Morning Consult.There are some signs Mr. Biden’s approval rating has improved since he dropped out of the presidential race. According to FiveThirtyEight’s approval polling average, Mr. Biden’s approval rating has climbed to just more than 39 percent from its post-debate nadir of just under 37 percent. Overall, he remains disapproved of by 16 points nationally.

Harris Campaign To Test Out Biden in Maryland Before Pennsylvania Tour

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