The Memo: Biden on the brink

The darkest hour of President Biden’s political career looked to be growing near Thursday, as senior Democrats leaned on him to step aside, polls showed continued erosion in his position against former President Trump and donors worried that fundraising was drying up.

Biden has tried several times to heal the wound he inflicted upon himself with his dismal debate performance June 27 in Atlanta. 

The efforts to shore up support since then have included conference calls and one-on-one meetings with congressional Democrats, interviews with major TV networks and friendly radio outlets, and a solo news conference at last week’s NATO summit.

None of it has worked. 

Now, the atmosphere in Washington — and among Democrats generally — is full-on crisis. Even previously staunch Biden backers are increasingly resigned to the fact that the end may be near.

“I would be shocked if he didn’t stand aside,” one longtime Biden supporter in the party told this column Thursday.

Another Democratic strategist said that, while the decision as to whether to plow on lay with Biden himself, “there are lots of people trying to influence that decision.”

The strategist, asked whether they knew of anyone seeking to influence Biden to stay as the nominee rather than to go, replied, “I have not heard anyone who does not work for the president make that case.”

The reluctance of people to go on the record opposing the president feeds into a broader argument made by his loyalists that the media are hyping up the crisis and relying excessively on anonymous sources to try to drive Biden from office.

Biden himself has cited the votes cast for him during this year’s primary process — more than 14 million of them — to suggest his critics are trying to negate the will of the party.

Meanwhile, the Biden campaign directed reporters’ inquiries to comments from principal deputy campaign manager Quentin Fulks at a Thursday morning news conference. The event was intended to critique the GOP during the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.

“I talk to the president every day,” Fulks said. “He is not wavering on anything. The president has made his decision. I don’t want to be rude, but I don’t know how many more times we can answer that. Joe Biden has said he is running for president of the United States. Our campaign is moving forward.”

Fulks also insisted Biden and his campaign staff believe the election contest with Trump remains “a margin-of-error race,” much as it was before the debate.

While it’s true that some polls remain tight, the overall shape of the race appears to have shifted in Trump’s direction — a move that has accelerated, at least in some surveys, amid the Democratic chaos over whether Biden should remain on the ticket.

An Emerson College poll released Thursday showed Trump ahead of Biden in seven battleground states. And a CBS News/YouGov poll released late Thursday afternoon showed Trump up by 5 points nationally. Trump had led by only 2 points nationally in a poll from the same organizations released July 3.

Any national advantage for Trump is significant, given the vagaries of the Electoral College and the battleground states. 

Trump won the 2016 election despite losing the popular vote to Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. Biden’s 2020 win was very narrow in the key states, despite the fact he bested Trump by more than 4 points nationwide.

Democrats are not only panicked because of the growing probability of a Trump victory in November — though, to be sure, they regard such a scenario as cataclysmic. They also fear Biden might doom candidates in other races.

The Washington Post has reported that the two most senior Democrats in Congress, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.), have each made this argument to Biden within the past week. 

ABC News reported Schumer had directly told Biden it would be best if he stepped aside.

The Washington Post separately reported former President Obama had told his allies that Biden’s path to a second term has become much narrower.

Meanwhile, a CNN report said former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is of broadly the same opinion. Some Democrats saw the hand of Pelosi in a Wednesday op-ed from one of her allies, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), calling on Biden to step aside.

The reports of top Democrats urging Biden to consider his position have been met with pushback of a kind — but not outright denial.

A Schumer spokesperson said the ABC News report about him suggesting Biden step aside was “idle speculation.” A Pelosi spokesperson complained about a “feeding frenzy from the press” that “misrepresents any conversations the Speaker may have had with the president.”

On social media Thursday, White House senior deputy press secretary Andrew Bates responded on his personal account to an Axios report that Biden could be forced from the race writing, “Incorrect. Keep the faith.”

The problem is, faith in Biden appears to be growing scarce.

More than 20 elected Democrats on Capitol Hill have called on the president to step aside as the nominee. Many more are said to be waiting in the wings. 

On Thursday, a previously private July 6 letter to Biden from Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) — paying extravagant tribute before comparing the president to a tired baseball pitcher — suddenly became public.

The president’s position is further imperiled now that an attempt to hold an early roll call vote, confirming him as the party’s nominee, has faltered and been pushed back.

In the current political climate, it’s always wise to acknowledge surprising things can happen.

Perhaps Biden can turn it all around. Perhaps he can face down the growing chorus of discontent.

But right now, even those who like and admire him are no longer blind to the writing on the wall.

“The only way he saves his legacy is to get out,” the longtime supporter told this column.

The Memo is a reported column by Niall Stanage.