Former President Joe Biden recently noted that it was a good time to catch up with his old boss. He knew Barack Obama was about to leave gray Washington for his annual Hawaiian Christmas vacation, so he invited him for lunch last December at the White House via NY Mag.
It is noted that for months, Biden’s poll numbers had been trending in the wrong direction and his party had been growing uncomfortably anxious about him as the election year approached. Biden knew that Obama had been watching his situation, that he’d started digging into the state of the campaign a bit, and that he’d be willing to offer some thoughts.
When they were in office together, Obama would lead their regular lunches and use the time to discuss the policy and political topics that were on his mind that week and sometimes family too. These days Biden leads the conversations when they do, using Obama as a trusted and experienced source of advice.
They sat far from prying eyes in the White House and the conversation naturally turned to the coming election. When Biden brought up 2024, Obama already knew what he wanted to say. His primary objective was to remind Biden how their reelection campaign had been organized in D.C., in its Chicago headquarters, and the battleground states. It was not surprising by the standards of a secret meal shared by presidents.
Their lunches tend to be unannounced to anyone but need-to-know-level aides, and none sit in when Biden and Obama chat. In Washington, that means that rumors about their conversations circulate faster than reliable word about what they’ve discussed, especially when things aren’t going well politically.
For years now, many Washington Democrats have been contradictorily convinced that there must be a growing distance between the pair and that Obama must possess some secret plan to help his old partner and they are in constant search of evidence for both.
