Biden’s ability to win back Democrats tested at perilous moment for campaign

Saturday 20 July 2024 10:30 am

Joe Biden’s efforts to revive his re-election bid and win over sceptical Democrats have done little to soften the push for him to exit the 2024 race.

US President Joe Biden’s efforts to revive his re-election bid and win over sceptical Democrats have done little to soften the push for him to exit the 2024 race, despite a week of campaigning and his own insistence that he is the best candidate to confront Donald Trump.

Mr Biden has weighty options before him this weekend that could set the direction of America and his party as the nation heads toward the November election against an energised Republican party which has officially nominated Mr Trump as its candidate for the White House.

Almost 35 Democrats in US congress say it is time for Mr Biden to step aside, with 12 coming forward on Friday alone.

More legislators are expected to speak out in the days ahead.

Donors have also raised concerns, and an organisation called “Pass the Torch, Biden” is planning a rally on Saturday at the White House.

Representative Morgan McGarvey of Kentucky, one of the Democrats calling for Mr Biden to quit, said: “There is no joy in the recognition he should not be our nominee in November.

“But the stakes of this election are too high and we can’t risk the focus of the campaign being anything other than Donald Trump.”

The stand-off has become increasingly untenable for the party and its leaders, a month from the Democratic National Convention that should be a unifying moment to nominate their incumbent President to confront Mr Trump. Instead, the party is at a crossroads unseen in generations.

It is creating a stark juxtaposition with Republicans who, after years of bitter and chaotic infighting over Mr Trump, have essentially embraced the former president’s far-right takeover of the party, despite his criminal conviction in the hush money case and pending federal criminal indictment for trying to overturn the 2020 election ahead of the January 6 attack on the Capitol in 2021.

In a horrifying moment that made headlines around the world, Mr Trump survived an attempt on his life at a rally in Pennsylvania last weekend, with a member of the crowd being killed.

From his beach home in Delaware, 81-year-old Mr Biden is isolating with a Covid infection, among a small circle of his family and close advisers.

White House doctor Kevin O’Connor said on Friday that the President still had a dry cough and hoarseness, but his symptoms had improved.

Mr Biden’s team insists he is ready to return to the campaign trail next week to counter what he called a “dark vision” laid out by Mr Trump.

“Together, as a party and as a country, we can and will defeat him at the ballot box,” Biden said on Friday. “The stakes are high, and the choice is clear. Together, we will win.”

But outside the Rehoboth enclave, the debate and passions are intensifying.

A donor call with some 300 people on Friday was described as a waste of time by one participant, who was granted anonymity to discuss the private conversation.

While the person was complimentary of vice president Kamala Harris, who spoke for five minutes, the rest of the time was filled by others who brushed aside donor concerns, according to the participant.

Not only are the Democrats split over whether Mr Biden should stay in the race or step aside, they also lack consensus about how to choose a successor.

Democrats who are agitating for Mr Biden to leave do not appear to have coalesced around a plan for what would happen next, for now.

Very few members of congress have mentioned Harris in their statements, and some have said they favour an open nominating process that would throw the party’s endorsement behind a new candidate.

Democratic senators Jon Tester of Montana and Peter Welch of Vermont have both called for Mr Biden to exit the race and said they would favour an open nominating process at the convention.

“Having it be open would strengthen whoever is the ultimate nominee,” Mr Welch said.

Other Democrats say it would be politically unthinkable to move past Ms Harris, the nation’s first woman vice president, who is black and south-east Asian, and logistically unworkable with a virtual nominating vote being planned for early next month, ahead of the August 19 Democratic convention in Chicago.

Minnesota representative Betty McCollum, who is among those who called on Mr Biden to step aside, explicitly endorsed Ms Harris as a replacement.

She said: “To give Democrats a strong, viable path to winning the White House, I am calling upon President Biden to release his delegates and empower vice president Harris to step forward to become the Democratic nominee for President.”

It is unclear what else, if anything, the president could do to reverse course and win back lawmakers and Democratic voters, who are wary of his ability to beat back Mr Trump and to serve another term after his halting debate performance last month.

Nearly two-thirds of Democrats say Mr Biden should withdraw from the presidential race and let his party nominate a different candidate, according to a new AP-NORC Centre for Public Affairs Research poll, undermining his post-debate claim that “average Democrats” are still with him.

At the same time, a majority of Democrats believe Kamala Harris would do a good job in the top slot, according to a separate poll by the same body.

Mr Biden, who sent a defiant letter to Democrats in congress in the initial aftermath of his debate performance vowing to stay in the race, has yet to personally visit Capitol Hill to shore up support, an absence noticed by senators and representatives.

The President did conduct a round of virtual conversations with various caucuses in the past week — some of which ended poorly.

At the same time, Mr Biden still has strong backers. He picked up support on Friday from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus’ campaign arm and has backing from leaders of the Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

Associated Press – Lisa Mascaro and Zeke Miller

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