As the 2024 presidential race dwindles down to its last days, the two main candidates and their top surrogates are traveling to key swing states and making their cases to voters, with Democrats taking an especially strategic approach to precisely whom they will deploy.

As evidenced by Jill Biden's recent appearance in Macon, Georgia, it is clear that President Joe Biden has been deemed by the Kamala Harris campaign as unsuitable for joint appearances with the Democratic Party hopeful, particularly in light of his recent, highly controversial comments about supporters of former President Donald Trump, as Fox News reports.

First lady heads to Georgia

As the Macon Telegraph noted, Mrs. Biden traveled to the city on Saturday in support of Harris' bid for the White House, attempting to tailor her remarks to female voters.

Hoping to capitalize on what polls suggest is a significant gap in sentiment among men and women as the election approaches, Jill Biden aimed to focus on issues she believes may make a difference at the ballot box, particularly concerns about abortion rights.

“No one has to abandon their faith and deeply held beliefs to agree that the government shouldn't be telling women what to do,” Mrs. Biden declared.

The first lady stressed to her audience what she feels is the urgency her party faces in the run-up to Tuesday, adding, “We have to work harder than we ever have before, we have to push further than we've pushed in the past. We have to meet this moment as if our democracy is on the line, because it is.”

President on the sidelines

While those are likely the same arguments her husband, President Joe Biden, would also make in support of Harris, it has become increasingly apparent that the vice president is not terribly interested in utilizing the commander in chief as a top surrogate in the final days of her campaign.

Though Mr. Biden has ventured out of D.C. to stump more generally for Harris and also for down-ballot Democrats, joint appearances with the woman at the top of his party's ticket have been few and far between.

The last time Biden and Harris appeared together was on Labor Day at an event in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and since then, the president's actions have served to weaken the argument that he would be of particular benefit to the VP's Oval Office aspirations.

After a pair of serious gaffes that included calling for Trump to be locked up and characterizing the former president's supporters as “garbage,” advisors close to Harris now feel that Biden is capable of doing far more harm than good.

Attempting to downplay any suggestion of intentional distancing between the two, Democratic Party strategist Jim Demers told Fox News, “This election is about Kamala Harris, so people need to see the vision that she has for America. ...It's important that the focus stay on her.”

Liability exposed

Perhaps less charitable was former Barack Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau, who opined that the best thing for the Harris campaign is for Biden to stay away from the trail altogether and concentrate on his remaining time in office, as News Nation noted.

Considering Biden's unpopularity and his propensity to needlessly put his foot in his mouth, it should come as no surprise that Harris and those advising her are all hoping the president can manage to stay out of the headlines – at least until Americans have finished casting their ballots.