President Joe Biden’s bid for re-election is on the brink of collapse.
Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), one of the most endangered Democratic incumbents this cycle, told the Daily Montanan on Thursday that “President Biden should not seek re-election to another term.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer was given a heads up about Tester’s announcement. Schumer told Tester to do whatever he thinks is best, according to a source familiar with the matter.
More than 20 House Democrats have already come out publicly with similar statements, as has Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.). More defections are expected in the coming days.
Biden’s fundraising has fallen off a cliff. His poll numbers continue to slide. Even former President Barack Obama thinks Biden should consider getting out, according to the Washington Post.
The New York Times is reporting that Biden “has begun to accept the idea that he may not be able to win in November and may have to drop out of the race.”
Here’s some news: Inside the Democratic leadership on the Hill, there’s a sense that if Biden doesn’t exit the race by next week, Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries will be forced to go public with their misgivings about Biden’s candidacy. Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi is at her wit’s end too, according to sources who’ve talked to the California Democrat.
The DNC’s virtual roll call to formally renominate Biden could come as soon as Aug. 1, which doesn’t leave much time to get Biden out. But let’s be clear — that’s exactly what a huge number of House and Senate Democrats want.
Former President Donald Trump is sure to get the traditional bump from the GOP convention. Just five days after a failed assassintion attempt, Trump repeatedly hammered Biden’s policies last night in a very long, rambling and often dark acceptance speech, although he largely steered clear of mentioning the president’s name.
“I felt very safe because I had God on my side,” Trump declared as he told the crowd about Saturday’s shooting in a highly emotional rendition of what happened.
Up until now, Schumer and Jeffries haven’t said anything of substance publicly about how they truly feel about Biden. Pelosi – who’s even older than Biden – has emerged as the most visible Democrat pushing the president to leave the race.
Needless to say, Biden has put Schumer and Jeffries in an incredibly difficult position. Still reeling from his disastrous June 27 debate performance, Biden has done nothing to improve his standing since then. Biden — now sidelined with Covid – has been combative in his interactions with party leaders and rank-and-file Democrats. His few media appearances haven’t gone well. The bad news keeps coming.
We wanted to dive into why Schumer and Jeffries have handled this crisis the way they have. Here are five reasons the pair of New York Democrats are saying precious little about Biden.
Caution. Schumer and Jeffries in particular are cautious by nature. They build consensus behind the scenes first and then act. This isn’t Harry Reid making decisions unilaterally and then getting his senators to fall in line. And at this point in his career, Jeffries doesn’t have Pelosi’s power to dictate outcomes. Maybe no Hill leader ever will again.
The situation is unprecedented too, which makes their caution understandable. There’s no playbook to reach for in dealing with this dilemma.
No one can predict what would happen if Biden steps aside. One of the most difficult calculations for either Democratic leader is what happens if Biden leaves the ticket. Is Vice President Kamala Harris a better option for Democrats? Say Harris is tapped as Biden’s replacement, the most likely outcome if the president does withdraw from the race. That could trigger a huge internal Democratic struggle over the VP pick. And one other point – there’s no clear evidence a Harris-led ticket would do much better in November than a Biden-led one.
Jeffries’ quandary. Jeffries is the most powerful Black Democrat in Congress, but he’s not the most prominent. That title goes to Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.). Clyburn hasn’t backed off his Biden support yet either. And the Congressional Black Caucus is still figuring out how to position itself as the crisis unfolds. We’ve talked to CBC sources who say their leadership will huddle over the next few days to determine a public posture should Biden continue to falter. For what it’s worth, there’s a sense in the CBC that Biden’s time is up.
Schumer’s caucus. As we noted above, Senate Democrats have largely stuck by Biden so far, at least in public. Schumer speaks to numerous senators daily. He knows exactly what his senators are thinking at all times. He’s not ever going to get too far out in front of them.
“In the Senate caucus, you have people like me… to fierce [Biden] defenders like Sen. Coons and Sen. Fetterman,” Welch told us. “But we all have total confidence in the ability of Sen. Schumer to convey the various concerns that are being expressed.”
Loyalty to Biden. Jeffries and Schumer personally like Biden. It’s also not easy to tell a sitting president that his remarkable political career is over after 50-plus years.
In Schumer’s case, he served with Biden in the Senate for 10 years. They’ve known each for far longer. They’ve done some big things together. So there’s been a desire to be respectful of Biden and let him make a decision on his own timeline. But the clock is ticking.
