- Democrats discuss replacing Biden due to age
- Biden’s re-election campaign faces doubts
- Harris suggested as Biden’s potential replacement
President Joe Biden attempted to reignite his dormant re-election campaign on Sunday as members of his party discussed the prospects of his candidacy.
Last week, the president’s faltering debate performance raised significant concerns about his physical and mental ability to run. A prime-time appearance with ABC on Friday fueled more conjecture about his campaign’s prospects.
Despite the uncertainty, Mr Biden attended two campaign events on Sunday in Pennsylvania, a critical swing state.
However, those efforts have not deterred the president’s fellow Democrats from considering the risks and benefits of putting Mr. Biden, 81, at the top of the ticket. On Sunday afternoon, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries called a meeting with top Democratic members, which included a discussion of Mr Biden’s candidacy.
According to CBS, four people on the line said Biden should quit. According to sources, at least three others have expressed concern about his chances in November.
Over the weekend, several key Democratic politicians made broadcast appearances, attempting to answer the question of whether it is riskier to support Mr. Biden or to abandon him.
Some believe that if Mr. Biden remains in office, the party will lose to Donald Trump in November, while others believe that removing him will be uncertain.
Some people sense opportunity in a fresh start.
In the wake of Mr Biden’s poor debate performance, asking the president to step down could provide some immediate solace.
Some Democrats, including ardent allies of the president, have stated as much, implying that questions about his age and mental capacity had become impossible to overcome.
On Sunday, California Representative Adam Schiff stated that the discussion “rightfully raised questions among the American people about whether the president has the vigour to defeat Donald Trump.
In his interview with NBC News, Mr Schiff stopped short of suggesting Biden should get out, a position shared publicly by five House Democrats thus far.
Instead, Mr. Schiff asked him to seek advice from experts with “distance and objectivity” before deciding whether he is the ideal candidate to run.
Given Joe Biden’s fantastic record and Donald Trump’s bad record, he [Biden] should be able to outperform Trump, according to Mr Schiff. It shouldn’t be close, and there’s only one reason why it is: the president’s age.
Mr. Biden is 81 years old, whereas Donald Trump is only 78. The ages of both candidates have become an increasingly sensitive issue among voters.
Polls on the left indicate that some voters are losing faith in Mr. Biden. In a Wall Street Journal poll published on Friday, 86% of Democrats indicated they would endorse Mr Biden, down from 93% in February.
A different candidate may also provide a clean slate in other areas. Before this surge of Democratic fear, Mr Biden faced criticism from voters on several policy fronts, including his management of the US economy and the migrant situation at the country’s southern border.
Progressive voters who opposed the president’s response to Israel’s assault in Gaza threatened to defect. During the February primary, their opposition cost Trump almost 100,000 votes in Michigan, a critical swing state.
On Sunday, former Ohio Representative Tim Ryan told Fox News that a Biden ticket would “drag everybody else down.” You will see considerable pressure, whether today, tomorrow, or later this week, as members return and realize that this is no longer an option for them.
Others argue that the unknown is too large a danger.
According to some Democratic leaders, the risks associated with losing Mr Biden may outweigh any benefits.
If the president stepped down, most of what would happen next would be unknown: who would succeed Mr Biden, and how? And how would that candidate do against Trump?
Numerous Biden backers have recently emphasized the risks of taking a new path, noting that Mr. Biden has proven successful.
“Biden is old,” Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, 82, told CBS News on Sunday. He is less articulate than he formerly was. I hope he can jump up the steps of Air Force One. He cannot. We need to focus on policy, which has and will continue to benefit the vast majority of the people in this country.
California Governor Gavin Newsom, who spent the weekend campaigning for the president, made the same statement at an event in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, on Saturday.
Mr. Newsom stated that the possibility is impeding progress in marketing this candidacy. It is precisely where the opposing party wants us to be, having this internal struggle, which is pretty harmful.
Mr Biden’s public backers worry that replacing him might directly aid Trump’s Republicans, who can claim their opponents are embroiled in party disarray.
On Sunday, Representative Debbie Dingell of Michigan remarked on CNN, “We have to stop talking about this.” We spent an entire week.
Republicans are having a wonderful time. Let’s get back to talking about Donald Trump’s performance.
A middle ground for keeping Harris?
Earlier this week, former Ohio Representative Tim Ryan proposed Kamala Harris, Mr Biden’s Vice President, as a substitute.
“I strongly believe that Kamala Harris is our best path forward,” he wrote in an op-ed for Newsweek. Those who claim that a Harris campaign is a more significant risk than the Joe Biden we witnessed the other night and will continue to see are out of touch with reality.
Though she has shown only faithful support for Mr Biden, the concept of Ms Harris, 59, taking over for Mr Biden has recently gathered traction.
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In a Sunday morning interview, Adam Schiff stated that Ms Harris might win “overwhelmingly” over Trump.
As vice president and a 2020 Democratic candidate, supporters claim she is already campaign-tested and conversant with the Democratic elite and its fundraisers.
On Sunday, former Democratic National Committee head Donna Brazile told ABC that Ms Harris “knows the job”. “To ask the delegates elected to the convention who are Biden-Harris supporters to bypass Kamala Harris… it would be political malpractice.”
However, what appeals to her supporters may also be a drawback: age is one of many issues voters have with Biden, and the administration’s baggage about policy decisions may extend to Ms Harris.
