As the November midterm elections inch closer, Democratic and Republican candidates — especially those in tight races — will deploy any last-minute advantages at their disposal to gain even a slight increase in their chances of emerging victorious.
For Democrats, one of those advantages, weirdly enough, is first lady Jill Biden. She was described by The New York Times as one of President Joe Biden’s “most popular” surrogates, and requests for her appearance at Democratic political events and fundraisers before the midterms are reportedly piling up.
However, as Americans struggle to determine how they’ll buy groceries, fill up their gas tanks and pay their electric bills under the historic inflation that has marked her husband’s presidency, the first lady recently asked donors at an Atlanta fundraising event for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams to throw even more money at Abrams and other candidates, even though they’d already paid a cool $1,000 to attend the event, the Times reported.
“I’m asking you to dig a little deeper,” Jill Biden told the audience during her 20-minute appearance before she slipped out through the kitchen door to head to the next event.
First Lady Jill Biden will campaign with Stacey Abrams in Atlanta on Friday – the most significant event the White House has held with Abrams this year. #gapol pic.twitter.com/W2ZteOGmhb
— Greg Bluestein (@bluestein) October 13, 2022
The fact that the White House deployed the first lady to Georgia probably means Abrams is scrambling for a last-minute boost to her campaign as incumbent Republican Gov. Brian Kemp continues to dominate her in the polls.
According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Abrams said earlier this month that she anticipated “having folks from the Biden administration, including the president himself, if he can make it.”
While many Democratic candidates are clearly frightened by President Biden’s unpopularity, Abrams and her campaign are leaning into it.
“I want to be a partner to the White House, not in opposition to it,” she said, according to the Journal-Constitution, “because billions of dollars are coming to the state because of Joe Biden’s leadership, because of the leadership of [Democratic Sens.] Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff and our Democrats in our congressional delegation.”
Nathan Price, a University of North Georgia political scientist, said he believes Abrams is gambling on sticking close to the struggling U.S. president despite it being considered a contrarian play at the moment.
He said she “may feel like this is a risk worth taking if it helps energize her base.”
According to The Hill, Georgia was far from Jill Biden’s only stop in the weeks before Election Day.
Within the past week, the first lady has also made stops in Tennessee, Wisconsin and Florida.
In the Sunshine State, she appeared alongside Democratic Rep. Val Demings, who is running for the Senate, and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist.
Top of the ticket energy!
Thank you @FLOTUS for joining Charlie Crist and me in the fight for our rights. When we win, we can work on lowering costs, saving our democracy, and protecting our reproductive rights. We will give Florida the future it deserves. pic.twitter.com/KbksmzecsF
— Val Demings (@valdemings) October 17, 2022
“The first lady will be an active campaigner for Democrats this fall and will carry a message of optimism and hope, focusing on the accomplishments of her husband’s administration,” one of the first lady’s senior advisers told the Hill.
Her schedule ahead of one of the most impactful midterms in U.S. history stands in stark contrast to that of former first lady Melania Trump, who mostly stayed out of the limelight during the 2018 midterms.
As to why Jill Biden is being sent across the country when her husband becomes increasingly unpopular, the Times reported that “White House officials believe she appeals to suburban women and can communicate to Americans ‘beyond the Twitterverse and cable news chatter,’ according to Elizabeth Alexander, her communications director.”
One might question why the first lady would ask fundraiser attendees for more money in addition to what they’ve already donated, but like most in the Biden administration, she is so out of touch with the struggles that her husband helped create for the average American that it shouldn’t come as a surprise.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
