Adding pep to Biden’s campaign

Biden speaking during a meeting with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh of Vietnam in Hanoi. — ©2023 The New York Times Company

WITH stubbornly subterranean approval numbers, US President Joe Biden is taking early steps to shore up his re-election candidacy with a multi-pronged strategy that includes a costly advertising campaign and leveraging the powers of the bully pulpit.

During his recent trip to India and Vietnam, Biden’s aides aggressively pushed back on suggestions that he has lost a step, highlighting his busy schedule as a sign of his vigour. Back home, his campaign broadcast a television ad depicting a previous overseas trip – a secret journey to Ukraine in February that the White House has trumpeted as a triumph of daring and a foreign policy tour de force.