Joe Biden and Lloyd Doggett. Courtesy of CNN.
Dear Commons Community,
A growing number of Democratic leaders are saying they want Joe Biden to step aside for the good of the party – and the country. As reported by CNN.
Democratic Representative Lloyd Doggett of Texas was the first to break ranks.
“I represent the heart of a congressional district once represented by Lyndon Johnson. Under very different circumstances, he made the painful decision to withdraw. President Biden should do the same,” Doggett said in his statement Tuesday.
“There’s a large and increasing group of House Democrats concerned about the president’s candidacy, representing a broad swath of the caucus,” another House Democratic lawmaker told CNN on condition of anonymity to speak candidly. “We are deeply concerned about his trajectory and his ability to win. We want to give him space to make a decision [to step aside], but we will be increasingly vocal about our concerns if he doesn’t.”
Biden is expected to meet today with Democratic governors and congressional leaders, the White House said yesterday. The announcement came after CNN reported that some governors expressed concerns about the president’s debate performance. The governors, one source said, were worried about going public with their concerns out of fear it would lead to Biden digging in further.
CNN talked to more than two dozen current and former Democratic officials, as well as donors and longtime Biden allies, all of whom spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid alienating Biden. Many of these people say they have already made up their minds that the president should quit his campaign, a decision some of them think he needs to announce this week.
They have held off going to Biden directly, hoping he would make the decision himself, but patience is wearing thin, multiple Democrats told CNN, amid signs that Biden has taken no steps to seriously consider the mounting concerns. He is poised to travel to swing states this weekend, aides said, a sign that he has no plans of changing course. Yesterday, ABC News announced Biden will sit down with George Stephanopoulos for his first TV interview since the debate, with clips airing on Friday.
Initially, there was hope that the president’s family would convince him to step aside, given how badly the debate went. However, at a Biden retreat Sunday at Camp David, it became apparent the president’s family rallied around his decision to continue his campaign, blaming staff for his missteps.
“One word you know about Biden: stubborn,” said one senior Democratic official who has publicly supported Biden in the past but who privately thinks he needs to step aside. “They are trying to give him the space to realize what a disaster this is.”
And while the Biden campaign has insisted the debate was just a bad night for the 81-year-old president, the Democrats who want him to step aside say it was not a one-off incident that can be fixed.
“This is not like Obama being rusty for a debate,” said a senior Democratic official, referring to former President Barack Obama’s lackluster performance in his first debate against Republican opponent Mitt Romney in 2012.
“[Biden] might be able to survive this if this was the only incident. But it won’t be the only incident,” said a senior Capitol Hill Democratic official.
“We have to be honest with ourselves that it wasn’t just a horrible night,” Illinois Rep. Mike Quigley told Kasie Hunt on “CNN This Morning” yesterday. “He clearly has to understand, I think, what you’re getting to here is that his decision not only impacts who’s going to serve in the White House the next four years but who’s going to serve in the Senate, who’s going to serve in the House, and it will have implications for decades to come.”
During an interview on MSNBC on Tuesday, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called on Biden to participate in multiple interviews with journalists in the aftermath of his debate performance.
The California Democrat, who emphasized it is Biden’s decision about whether to step aside, said she has heard “mixed” responses to the debate from donors and others in her Democratic network.
“I think it’s a legitimate question to say, is this an episode or is this a condition?” Pelosi said, referring to Biden’s debate performance. She quickly added that this was a legitimate question for former President Donald Trump as well, citing his repeated lies during the debate.
Do the right thing, Joe. Step aside!
Tony
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