With polls showing President Joe Biden's reelection prospects flagging even among reliable Democratic Party voting blocs, news has emerged that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is now poised to increase her involvement in his campaign, as Fox News reports.
While some might view her participation in campaign efforts as a natural extension of her identity as one of the party's elder stateswomen, others see it as a sign of panic among liberal elites about Biden's chances of winning a second term.
As NBC News reported, at the end of November, Clinton's heightened engagement was evidenced by the fact that she hosted a high-dollar fundraiser for Biden at her Georgetown home known as Whitehaven.
According to the outlet, the event, which included members of the Women's Leadership Forum, drummed up roughly $1 million for Biden's campaign coffers.
The success of that event came just weeks after a Hillary Clinton-penned op-ed appeared in The Atlantic, a piece in which she strongly advocated for Biden's handling of the conflict between Israel and Hamas, a move which risked the ire of the far-left flank of her party.
Those occurrences, combined with her growing visibility as one of Biden's most noteworthy surrogates, could potentially be explained by the fact that she retains significant popularity among women voters and certain elements of the Democratic Party's base.
Others, however, believe that her more frequent displays of support for Biden are instead borne more out of desperation about the party's presumptive 2024 candidate's hopes of securing reelection.
Charlie Hurt, opinion editor at the Washington Times and a Fox News contributor, is among those who sees Clinton's recent overtures as a symptom of flagging confidence within the party.
“I think Joe Biden's going to need more than a[n] 'I'm with her' t-shirt with all of his political problems,” Hurt explained, referencing one of Mrs. Clinton's old campaign slogans.
Hurt went on, “But, you know you are in deep, deep trouble if you are picking up the bat phone and calling Hillary Clinton to come help you out.”
“And I think it was sort of interesting that their thinking is that [Biden] needs help among women voters,” Hurt continued. “If you need help among women voters, and you're a Democrat, and you're running against Donald Trump, you should just quit because it's over.”
Though there are hopes -- perhaps even expectations -- among Democrats that former President Barack Obama will also begin to take a more active role in support of Biden's reelection campaign, strategist Dick Harpootlian appeared uncertain as to how much assistance he is actually likely to offer.
“We would like to have him out there for as much time as he's willing to give us. And if he's willing to give us more than he already does -- which is not much -- we'd be very relieved,” the insider went on.
NBC News reported separately earlier this year that during a White House meeting, Obama told Biden that he would do “whatever it takes” to bolster his reelection campaign, but as the current president's fortunes -- and approval ratings -- continue what appears to be a freefall, it remains to be seen whether he will want to lend his name and spend his political capital on what could prove an embarrassingly lost cause.
