Good evening.
President Joe Biden’s disastrous 90 minutes at last Thursday’s debate have metastasized into a slow-moving existential crisis for his campaign. Democrats’ initial panic about the 81-year-old president’s painful performance have been exacerbated by Biden’s public response, or lack thereof — as well as by reports that, as The New York Times put it, people who have spent time with Biden in recent months said his mental lapses had become more frequent and “he increasingly appeared confused or listless, or would lose the thread of conversations.” Yet the president on Wednesday reportedly vowed to stay in the race — and win.
We’ve got details.
Biden Struggles to Save His Candidacy as Pressure Grows
Facing growing pressure to publicly prove he is capable of performing his duties for another four years following a disastrous debate performance last week, President Joe Biden spoke with allies Wednesday in an attempt to quell doubts as to whether he is the best Democratic candidate to take on Donald Trump this fall.
“Let me say this as clearly as I possibly can, as simply and straightforward as I can: I am running," Biden reportedly told campaign staff in a conference call Wednesday afternoon. "No one is pushing me out ... I’m in this race to the end and we’re going to win.”
Vice President Kamala Harris, a leading potential replacement for Biden on the Democratic ticket should he drop out of the race, joined the call in a sign of unity. “We will not back down,” Harris reportedly said. “We will follow our president’s lead. We will fight, and we will win.”
The show of resolve comes amid questions about why Biden hasn’t done more to demonstrate his vigor and alacrity in the days since the debate. At a campaign event Tuesday night, Biden reportedly blamed his debate stumbles on his extensive international travel, even though he had been home for 12 days before taking the stage against Trump. The White House on Wednesday said the president’s struggles were the result of a combination of continuing jet lag from his European trips and a cold. Those explanations have only raised more questions — as has the decision not the have Biden try to quell concerns by, say, holding a live press conference.
The president reportedly understands there are serious doubts about his age and abilities, and that he must prove to both the American people and members of his own party that he is still capable of doing his job. As part of that effort, the White House said Wednesday that he has reached out to leading Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, Delaware Sen. Chris Coons and South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn.
Biden has also taped a couple of radio interviews and scheduled an on-camera interview with George Stephanopoulos of ABC News on Friday, as well as campaign appearances in the key battleground states of Wisconsin and Pennsylvania this weekend.
Plan B? At the same time, there are reports that Biden is aware that his effort may fail, and that he may need to step down if he is unable to restore confidence in his capabilities. “He knows if he has two more events like that, we’re in a different place,” an unnamed source said to be a key ally told The New York Times, referring to the debate with Trump last Thursday.
A White House spokesperson quickly denied the validity of the report, but it seems clear that Biden is aware that he is fighting for his political life. With calls for him to step down impossible to ignore — on Wednesday afternoon, a second Democratic lawmaker, Rep. Raúl Grijalva of Arizona, called on the president to give up his quest for another term — dozens of Democratic lawmakers are reportedly considering sending a letter to Biden asking him to withdraw from the presidential race, per Bloomberg. And a group of relatively moderate business leaders in the Leadership Now Project issued a statement Wednesday saying that as a result of Biden’s weak performance against Trump, “we must ask President Biden and the Democratic Party to pass the torch of this year's presidential nomination to the next generation of highly capable Democrats.”
Polling data released Wednesday gave Democrats new cause for concern. A New York Times/Siena College poll showed Trump increasing his lead over Biden nationally in the wake of last week’s debate, with the gap now at 6 points, 49% to 43% among likely voters. The poll found that 74% of respondents think Biden is too old to be president, an increase of 5 points from before the debate. That includes a majority of Democrats, 59% of whom agreed Biden is too old.
A separate Reuters poll found that in a matchup with Trump, Vice President Harris was behind by just one percentage point. Back in May, before the debate debacle, a New York Times/Siena College poll showed that Harris has more support as a possible Biden replacement than other leading Democrats, including Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
What’s next: Biden will consult with leading Democratic governors Wednesday evening, including Whitmer, Gavin Newsom of California and J.B. Pritzker of Illinois. After that, much hinges on the reaction to Biden’s performance as he attempts to calm the storm over the next few days. Further signs of physical or mental weakness could doom Biden’s campaign.
Fiscal News Roundup
- Biden Vows to Keep Running as Signs Point to Rapidly Eroding Support on Capitol Hill – Associated Press
- Biden "Absolutely Not" Considering Stepping Down, White House Press Secretary Says – CNN
- ‘The Clock Is Ticking’: Democrats Press Biden to Decide on His Future – Politico
- Biden Tells Allies He Knows He Has Only Days to Salvage Candidacy – New York Times
- Second House Democrat Calls on Biden to Withdraw From Race – CNN
- 3 House Democrats Describe Chaos Within Caucus Due to Growing Concerns About Biden – CNN
- DNC Delegates Sink Into ‘Stage of Grief’ Over Biden. Some Say He Should Step Aside – Politico
- Trump Advisers Hope Biden Stays in Race, as They Eye Alternate Scenarios – Washington Post
- ‘Biden Is Like Yoda.’ Inside the Big Money Battle to Salvage the Democratic Ticket – Wall Street Journal
- Michelle Obama Only Democrat to Beat Trump in New Poll – The Hill
- Federal Reserve Minutes: Inflation Is Cooling, but More Evidence Is Needed for Rate Cuts – Associated Press
- $50 Million Key Bridge Cleanup Contract Approved in Maryland – Washington Post
- 51,000-Year-Old Cave Painting May Be Earliest Scene Depicted Through Art – Washington Post
Views and Analysis
- A Shift in How Democrats Talk About Biden’s Dropping Out – Aaron Blake, Washington Post
- Biden Is Failing as Persuader-in-Chief – Francis Wilkinson, Bloomberg
- It’s Not Too Late to Replace Biden and Defeat Trump – Gregory B. Craig, Politico
- First Post-Debate Polls Are Bad for Biden — but Not Fatal – Ed Kilgore, New York
- Democrats Are Panicking. Why Aren’t Their Leaders Doing Anything? – Walter L. Shapiro, New Republic
- Novo Nordisk, Eli Lilly Must Stop Ripping Off Americans With High Drug Prices – President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), USA Today
- The Supreme Court’s War on Regulation Is Going to Tank the Economy – Timothy Noah, New Republic
- With or Without Chevron, Clearer Laws Are Essential – Bloomberg Editorial Board
- Is Inflation Biden’s or Trump’s Fault? The Answer Isn’t So Simple, Economists Say – Greg Iacurci, CNBC