From the opinion pages of the Wall Street Journal, this is Free Expression with Jerry Baker.

Hello and welcome to Free Expression with me, Jerry Baker, from the Wall Street Journal editorial page.

I'm delighted you're joining us this week. If you're not already a subscriber, please sign up wherever you do get your podcasts.

This week, it's Biden 2024. Yes, like every president before him

for the last half century or more, Joe Biden wants four more years in the White House.

As we record this on Tuesday, it's just a few hours since the president announced his reelection

campaign. The three-minute video with which he launched his bid was, I think it's fair to say,

a most unusual message for an incumbent,

but one that reflects the fact that Americans are pretty skeptical about the case for another Biden term. This was absolutely no mourning in America story of a country renewed and optimistic for another

four years. It was hardly a mention of any supposed achievements in Biden's first term.

He said the tone was one of foreboding.

Once again, Biden's warning us about the dangers of the extremism of his opponents,

the so-called Maga Republicans, he likes to call them, that he says are out to destroy American

democracy. But without mentioning Donald Trump, it was clear that the president's team have decided

that focusing on the former president and his supporters is the surest way to win re-election. With his own approval ratings in the

doldrums and most Americans telling pulses they don't want him to run again, that's hardly

surprising. So what are Biden's reelection prospects? First term, which has underscored how much

the progressive left dominates his party, with radical measures on public spending, green energy

and cultural issues

like race and gender, is the country really ready for that again, or will fear of the alternative

prove successful for Biden as it was in 2020?

Let's talk about all this.

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