Obama steps in, Biden sidelined in high-stakes Democratic campaigns

As a Democratic congresswoman less than two years ago, Abigail Spanberger delivered votes for then-President Joseph R. Biden’s agenda on everything from spending to gun control to immigration.

But now, with Ms. Spanberger running for governor in Virginia — one of the country’s marquee political races this year — Mr. Biden is nowhere to be seen. He hasn’t campaigned with her, and she isn’t going out of her way to talk about him, either.

Mr. Biden also hasn’t appeared in the governor’s race in New Jersey or the race for mayor in New York City.

Instead, Democrats are relying on former President Barack Obama to gin up enthusiasm among voters.

Longtime party operatives say that’s just good politics.

“Obviously Biden’s a liability right now,” said Paul Goldman, former chair of the Democratic Party of Virginia. “I think a lot of Democrats blame him for electing Trump.”

He paused and then added bluntly, “He did elect Trump.”

This year’s races are widely seen as a bellwether for next year’s congressional elections, when Democrats will have to figure out what to do about their most recent president as they face voters nationwide.

Mark Rozell, a political science professor at George Mason University, said next year’s candidates are likely watching to see how Ms. Spanberger fares.

“Should she succeed in this race, other Democrats may take the lesson for next year not to openly embrace the Biden record,” Mr. Rozell said.

Keeping the faith?

Mr. Biden left office on Jan. 20, but he had been on political life support since his June 2024 presidential debate debacle in Atlanta. He abandoned his reelection bid soon after.

What’s more, his former administration officials are still fending off allegations that they hid his cognitive decline and essentially made him their puppet by wielding his autopen.

The 82-year-old Mr. Biden recently made his first public appearance since undergoing radiation for an aggressive form of prostate cancer. He accepted a lifetime achievement award in Boston — where there is no campaign this year — and delivered a somber message of “dark days” under President Trump. He urged attendees to “keep the faith” and remain engaged in the political fight.

It’s a marked difference from 2017, when Mr. Obama had just left the White House and campaigned in that year’s races in Virginia and New Jersey.

He’s back this year, with rallies planned this weekend in both states.

Also missing from the Virginia race is former Vice President Kamala Harris, who replaced Mr. Biden as Democrats’ nominee last year and has earned her share of blame for the loss.

Former Virginia Gov. L. Douglas Wilder, the nation’s first Black governor, sees it that way, contending that “She lost the election, Trump didn’t win it.”

On Mr. Biden, Mr. Wilder said: “They are saying now he is ill, he has got cancer, and I am not in a position to determine the effects of it to the extent of travel or anything else.”

“That is an excuse, I guess that some could use, but I don’t know that Biden is particularly effective at this stage, whether he is sick or not,” Mr. Wilder said. “I can speak to that being 94 years old, and I don’t think people want to see too much of that in terms of him getting around.”

Mr. Biden won Virginia by 10 percentage points in 2020. Ms. Harris carried the state by about 6 points last year.

The Biden legacy

The Biden tarnish isn’t universal. Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has dipped into the campaign, headlining a rally with Ms. Spanberger.

So have other major party figures, such as Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, while Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer were featured in Spanberger emails to supporters.

Bill and Hillary Clinton headlined a Democratic fundraiser hosted by former Gov. Terry McAuliffe in Northern Virginia.

Yet it is Mr. Obama who remains the dominant figure.

“The Obama brand remains solid with the Democratic faithful and many independent voters, Biden’s is somewhat shattered by the blame-casting for Trump going back to the White House,” Mr. Rozell said. “Spanberger sees the political benefit from an Obama visit to Virginia, whereas the Biden legacy is just too mixed to give any political benefit to her.”

Mr. Goldman said the odds are that Mr. Biden’s image in the eyes of Democratic voters — much like presidents before him — will change eventually.

“But right now, how mad Democrats are at Trump, you bring Biden, you are just going to stir those old wounds,” the former Virginia Democratic Party chairman said. “That is why he hasn’t said a word. He knows it. He knows he messed up.”