Roving Periscope: After Pelosi, Obama also drops Biden; Democrats may force him to quit

Virendra Pandit

New Delhi: After former Speaker Nancy Pelone, even ex-President Barack Obama has pulled the plug: Joe Biden, 82, may be forced to renounce his candidature for a second term in the White House as pressure mounted on the fast-aging US President, 82, who is still making last-ditch efforts to secure the Democratic Party’s re-nomination next month.

According to the media reports, President Biden, diagnosed with COVID-19, is almost completely isolated in the Democratic Party which is pushing him to reconsider the 2024 race, fearing the just-recharged Donald Trump could easily defeat him.

But Biden’s campaign officials insisted the incumbent President is “even more committed to staying in the race,” although the calls for him to quit mounted by the day.

Top-level Democrats are pushing Biden to rethink his election bid, with former President Barack Obama expressing concerns to allies and Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi privately telling the President the party could lose the ability to seize control of the House of Representatives if he doesn’t step away from the 2024 race.

Biden’s orbit, already small before his debate disaster on June 27, has grown even smaller in recent days. Isolated as he battles a COVID-19 infection at home in Delaware, and election politics across America, the President is relying on a few longtime aides as he weighs whether to bow to the mounting pressure to drop out, the reports said.

His diminishing supporters’ “Biden For President” campaign is calling an all-staff meeting for Friday while Trump wraps up a heady Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. The Democrats, racing against time, may consider the extraordinary possibility of Biden stepping aside for a new presidential nominee before their own convention begins in August in Chicago.

He has been told the campaign is having trouble raising money, and some Democrats see an opportunity as he is away from the campaign for a few days to encourage his exit.

Biden tested positive for COVID-19 while traveling in Las Vegas and is experiencing mild symptoms including general malaise from the infection, the White House said.

The President himself, in a radio interview taped just before he tested positive, dismissed the idea it was too late for him to recover politically, telling Univision’s Luis Sandoval that many people don’t focus on the November election until September.

But in the US Congress, Democratic lawmakers are seen as lining up behind Vice President Kamala Harris as an alternative. One lawmaker said Biden’s own advisers are unable to reach a unanimous recommendation about what he should do. More in Congress are considering joining the nearly two dozen who have called for Biden to drop out.

The issue won’t go away, said Vermont Sen. Peter Welch, the sole Senate Democrat who has publicly said Biden should exit the race. Welch said the current state of party angst with lawmakers panicking and donors revolting was not sustainable.

Meanwhile, former President Obama conveyed to allies that Biden must consider the viability of his campaign but also made it clear that the final decision rests with the President. The former President has taken calls in recent days from members of congressional leadership, Democratic governors, and key donors to discuss their concerns about his former Vice President, Joe Biden.

Pelosi also presented polling surveys to Biden adding he likely can’t defeat Republican Trump, the reports said.

Some aides look like losing their own jobs if Biden quits the race. Pressed about reports that he might be softening to the idea of leaving, his deputy campaign manager Quentin Fulks said Thursday: “He is not wavering on anything.”

Using data showing Biden’s standing could seriously damage the ranks of Democrats in Congress, however, influential ruling party members like Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, are sending signals of strong concern if Biden insists on contesting.

Over the past week, Schumer and Jeffries, both of New York, spoke privately to the President, candidly laying out the concerns of Democrats on Capitol Hill. Control of the House and Senate is at stake, and leaders are keenly aware that a Republican sweep in November could launch Trump’s agenda for years to come.

Major political donors, particularly in Pelosi’s California, have been putting heavy pressure on the president’s campaign and members of Congress, according to one Democratic strategist. Schumer has told donors and others to bring their concerns directly to the White House.

A section of the Democratic Party still wants Biden to stay in the race. The Democratic National Committee is pushing ahead with plans for a virtual vote to formally make him its nominee in the first week of August, ahead of the Democratic National Convention, which begins on August 19.

But two-thirds of Democrats nationwide say Biden should step aside and let his party nominate a different candidate, according to an AP-NORC Centre for Public Affairs Research poll. That sharply undercuts Biden’s post-debate claim that average Democrats are still with him even if some big names are turning on him.

The Biden campaign pointed to what it called extensive support for his re-election from members of Congress in key swing states, as well as from the Congressional Black and Hispanic caucuses.