Democrats go public with panic about Biden amid fears of an electoral debacle

WASHINGTON – Democratic anxiety over US President Joe Biden’s fitness to run for re-election erupted into the open on July 2 in a spike of panic, as the first sitting member of Congress called on Mr Biden to withdraw and a slew of other prominent officials who have backed him vented their concerns.

One Democratic senator openly asked for assurances from the White House about Mr Biden’s “condition” – “that this was a real anomaly and not just the way he is these days”, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island told a local television station, where he said he had been “horrified” by

the US President’s debate performance

.

Another, Senator Peter Welch of Vermont, scolded the Biden campaign for “a dismissive attitude towards people who are raising questions for discussion”, in an interview with news website Semafor.

And later on July 2, Representative Lloyd Doggett of Texas, a veteran progressive lawmaker, issued a statement saying Mr Biden’s debate performance, which he had hoped would give the US President momentum to make up for his weakness relative to former US president Donald Trump,

had instead disqualified him from running again

.

“I had hoped that the debate would provide some momentum to change that. It did not,” Mr Doggett said. “Instead of reassuring voters, the President failed to effectively defend his many accomplishments and expose Trump’s many lies.”

The vast majority of Democrats, including party leaders, remain publicly supportive of Mr Biden, and the few critics who have dared to voice their concerns so far are not major players in the party with large followings.

Still, after days of privately fretting over Mr Biden’s fumbling, faltering debate performance on June 27, a growing number of Democrats

appeared willing to air their frustrations

.

It was a notable inflection point that came just a day after the US President addressed America in prime time in an effort to assuage concerns about his ability to speak in public.

Distraught about the pressure from within Mr Biden’s own firmament, White House officials were discussing sending him to battleground states, including to Wisconsin on July 5 and Pennsylvania on July 7, to do what allies have been urging: Show him in public settings for longer durations.

They were also discussing having Mr Biden meet on July 3 with Democratic governors, many of whom have not had direct contact with the US President since the debate, causing exasperation among some who have yet to hear from him.

Wider consequences

Much of the anxiety among lawmakers, strategists and operatives is being driven by a double-barrelled fear – not just that Mr Biden’s stumbles will cost him the White House, but that they might also make it impossible for Democrats to win the critical races that will decide control of the House and Senate, thus depriving them of a crucial check on the power of a potential Trump presidency.

Representative Mike Quigley said on CNN on July 2: “He clearly has to understand that his decision not only impacts who is going to serve in the White House the next four years, but who is going to serve in the Senate, who is going to serve in the House, and it is going to have implications for decades to come”.

Many Democratic offices on Capitol Hill have reported receiving a barrage of calls from their constituents urging lawmakers to ask Mr Biden to step down.

Mr Doggett said in an interview that the calls and messages he was receiving from constituents and supporters were “10 to one” in favour of Mr Biden stepping down. Another recounted that the messages were divided evenly between constituents calling for Mr Biden to withdraw and those who thought he was fit to serve.

And it is clear that Republicans plan to use the questions around Mr Biden’s mental acuity and fitness for office as a millstone around the necks of vulnerable Democrats.

The day after the debate, Republican trackers – operatives who film candidates and pelt them with politically treacherous questions – followed front-line House Democrats on their way home to their districts and asked them the same question: “Is Joe Biden fit to be president?”

“Joe Biden is President,” Representative Marcy Kaptur replied testily. “Are you fit to be president?”

But privately, many Democrats are deeply concerned. Democrats in congressional races across the country have long understood that they would need to outperform Mr Biden in order to win their seats. In that sense, several party operatives working on congressional races said Mr Biden’s performance would do little to affect their strategy.

Representative Jared Golden, for example, who represents a district Trump won in 2020, said on July 2 in an opinion column that he has long believed the former US president would win in November – “and I am okay with that”.

“Maine’s representatives will need to work with him when it benefits Mainers, hold him accountable when it does not and work independently across the aisle no matter what,” Mr Golden wrote.

In a pair of statements from Democrats’ House and Senate campaign arms, spokespersons stressed that congressional races were “candidate versus candidate battles”, as Mr David Bergstein, the Senate campaign communications director, said.

But Mr Biden’s debate performance, which unleashed a new wave of questions about his age and mental condition, has cast a dark shadow over the Democrats who are running down-ballot.

“It is noteworthy that our most significant Senate candidates have been running so significantly ahead of the President in places like Nevada and the rest of the country,” Mr Doggett said in an interview.

“But if we are not able to have a more vigorous and more effective campaign, we could end up with a Republican House and Senate. And there is concern that even if they have one of those houses, we have no check on Trump at all.”

Mr Doggett said he believed that Democrats were in a good position to win control of the House. “But if you look at it state by state, the margin will be – under the best of circumstances – a modest one. And that is why we need all the help we can get from the top.”

Damage control

For now, leading Democrats are expressing strong backing for Mr Biden. Senator Chuck Schumer, the majority leader, said during an appearance in Syracuse, New York, on July 2 that, “yes”, he believed the US President was fit to serve.

“I am with Joe Biden,” he said.

But for the first time, at least one prominent Democrat who remains behind Mr Biden entertained questions about him withdrawing. Representative James Clyburn of South Carolina, whose support in 2020 helped Mr Biden earn the Democratic nomination, said he would back US Vice-President Kamala Harris if the US President stepped down.

“I will support her if he were to step aside,” Mr Clyburn said on MSNBC on July 2. However, he added: “I want this ticket to continue to be Biden-Harris.”

Some Democrats believe that if Mr Biden stays in the race and continues to lag Trump in the polls or falls behind more, the party and its major donors may simply focus their money and energy on trying to keep hold of the Senate and win back the House rather than contest the presidency.

That was how Republicans handled the 1996 election with their presidential nominee, Mr Bob Dole, trailing badly.

Their efforts led the Republican Party to maintain control of Congress, stymieing the second term of Mr Bill Clinton, much as Democrats would hope to do during a possible second Trump administration.

“Democrats may say, ‘We had better get our act together or we could lose everything’,” said Mr Steve Jarding, a veteran Democratic political strategist and former lecturer at the Harvard Kennedy School. “And the American public seems to like (a) divided government.” NYTIMES