President Biden is heading into Election Day bracing for defeat, with his advisers privately admitting they don’t see a viable path for Democrats to retain their House majority.
But Biden and his senior team started the new day with the belief that the prospect of Democrats retaining their Senate majority was real — even if it could take days or more to fully materialize.
Biden plans to stay behind closed doors throughout the day, but aides say he will stick to his morning routine, which includes his exercise routine, morning meetings with his senior team and his daily intelligence briefing.
The White House political team will be based in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building not far from the West Wing, where they will maintain close contact with the Democratic committee’s running points in the midterm elections and monitor legal and security issues that may develop.
Biden’s predecessors have often appeared in radio interviews on Election Day aimed at boosting turnout in specific states or specific key demographic groups — something Biden may do too.
In the evening, Biden plans to watch the return with his close advisers, according to an official. While the official didn’t elaborate on where Biden plans to go when the vote closes, he invited Biden at key moments in his first 21 months in office — such as the late-night House passage of his $1 trillion infrastructure bill. His closest advisors came to the residence to watch the game play out.