WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥 Even though President Joe Biden won't be on the ballot i n November, voters still will be weighing his legacy.
As Vice President moves to take his place as the Democratic standard-bearer, Biden鈥檚 accomplishments remain very much at risk should Republican prevail.
How Biden鈥檚 single term and are remembered will be intertwined with Harris鈥 electoral result in November, particularly as the vice president runs tightly on the achievements of the Biden administration.
Biden made a case for his legacy 鈥 sweeping domestic legislation, renewal of alliances abroad, defense of democracy 鈥 on Wednesday night when he delivered about his decision to bow out of the race.
And no matter how frustrated Biden is at being 鈥 and he鈥檚 plenty upset 鈥 he has too much at stake simply to wash his hands of this election.
Biden endorsed Harris shortly after he announced Sunday that he would end his candidacy, effectively giving her a head start over would-be challengers and helping to jumpstart a candidacy focused largely on continuing his own agenda.
鈥淚f she wins, then it will be confirmation that he did the right thing to fight against the threat that is Trump, and he will be seen as a legend on behalf of democracy,鈥 said presidential historian Lindsay Chervinsky, executive director of the George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon. 鈥淚f she loses, I think there will be questions about, did he step down too late? Would the Democratic Party have been more effective if he had said he was not going to run?鈥
What-ifs play out at the end of every presidency. But Biden鈥檚 defiance in the face of questions about his fitness for office and then heightens the stakes.
The last vice president to run for the top job was Democrat Al Gore, who sought to distance himself from President Bill Clinton during the 2000 campaign after and subsequent impeachment.
Harris, in contrast, has spent the better part of the last three years praising Biden鈥檚 doings 鈥 meaning any attempt to now distance herself would be difficult to explain. And she has to rely on the Biden political operation she inherited to win the election with just over 100 days to go before polls close.
Speaking to campaign staff on Monday, Harris said Biden's legacy of accomplishment "just over the last three and a half years is unmatched in modern history.鈥
Harris, addressing the historically Black sorority Zeta Phi Beta in Indianapolis on Wednesday, previewed Biden's remarks, saying, 鈥淗e will talk about not only the work, the extraordinary work, that he has accomplished, but about his work in the next six months.鈥
Trump and his allies, for their part, were eager to tie Harris to Biden鈥檚 record even before the president left the race 鈥 and not in a good way.
One campaign email to supporters declared 鈥淜AMALA HARRIS IS BIDEN 2.0 鈥 Kamala Harris owns Joe Biden鈥檚 terrible record because it is her record as well,鈥 calling out high inflation and border policies, among other things.
Biden this week promised the staffers of his former campaign that he was still 鈥済oing to be on the road鈥 as he handed off the reins of the organization to Harris, adding, 鈥淚鈥檓 not going anywhere.鈥
His advisers say he intends to hold campaign events and fundraisers benefiting Harris, albeit at a far slower pace than had he remained on the ballot himself.
Harris advisers will ultimately have to decide how to deploy the president, whose popularity sagged as voters in both parties questioned his fitness for office.
The president鈥檚 allies insist that no matter what, Biden鈥檚 place in the history books is intact.
"was that election that protected us from a Donald Trump presidency,鈥 said Rep. Steven Horsford, chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus. 鈥淵es, we have to do it again this November. But had Donald Trump been in office another four years, the damage, the destruction, the decay of our democracy would鈥檝e gone even further.鈥
Matt Bennett, co-founder of the center-left think tank Third Way, predicted there will be a difference between short-term recollections of Biden and his legacy if Democrats lose in November.
鈥淚t is true that if we lose, that will cloud things for him in the near-term鈥 because Democrats will have to confront Trump, Bennett said. 鈥淚n the long term, when history judges Biden, they鈥檒l look at him on his own terms. They will judge him for what he did or did not do as president, and they will judge him very favorably.鈥
Biden鈥檚 decision to end his candidacy buoyed the spirits of congressional Democrats who had been fretting that the incumbent president would drag down their prospects of retaining the Senate and retaking the House. An all-Republican Washington would threaten to do even more damage to Biden鈥檚 legacy.
Already, congressional Republicans have tried to unravel pieces of , a central Biden achievement that was passed on party lines in 2022. And they could succeed next year, with a President Trump waiting to sign a repeal into law.
GOP lawmakers could also vote to reverse key federal regulations that had arrived later in the Biden administration.
鈥淚f the Republicans get dual majorities, they鈥檙e going to claw back as much as they can," Bennett said. 鈥淭hey're going to undo as much as they can and not only will that be a disaster for America and the world, it鈥檒l be really bad for the Biden legacy.鈥
Biden aides point to the thus-far seamless nature of Harris鈥 takeover of his political apparatus as evidence that the president has set up his vice president to run successfully on their shared record. But the ultimate test of that organization will come in November.
No one will be cheering her on more than the president.
As Biden said to Harris: 鈥淚鈥檓 watching you, kid."
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