On their return to Washington following the July 4 recess, congressional Democrats have been grappling with the fallout from President Joe Biden’s disastrous debate.
But they still face the same collective-action problem that kept any serious candidate from challenging him for the 2024 nomination over the past year, and prevented party leaders from publicly voicing concerns about Mr. Biden’s mental acuity. Few want to criticize a sitting president if it means weakening the party’s chances in the fall.
Why We Wrote This
Democrats on Capitol Hill are divided and demoralized. Many believe President Joe Biden is on track to lose, but there’s no consensus about what to do – and plenty of risk in a confrontation with the presumptive nominee.
As of now, many elected Democrats appear prepared to once again fall in line and support Mr. Biden, even though many also think he’s destined to lose to a flawed candidate they see as a would-be dictator. The emerging game plan, for now, seems to be no plan at all. And the longer their deliberations drag out, the less likely it will be that Democrats pull together to push for a change before the Aug. 19-22 Democratic convention.
Outside Washington, some Democratic voters are exasperated with the lack of resolve from their representatives.
“What’s the holdup?” asks Jesse Dehnert, who works in construction management in Seattle. “You guys in Congress are going to anger your constituents by not doing anything.”
Nearly two weeks after President Joe Biden’s debate disaster, elected officials from his party seem to be cycling through stages of grief.
Some are stuck in denial about how bad things look for their party. Some are angry he won’t get out. Some are still trying to strike a bargain for how to give him a push. Some are just depressed. And some are accepting the reality that Mr. Biden isn’t going anywhere – and that there’s no consensus among party leaders to try to push him out.
In separate huddles on Tuesday, House and Senate Democrats privately vented about Mr. Biden’s debate performance as well as his team’s slow response. But the pair of fraught meetings showed Democrats there’s no unanimity about what to do, with a fractured caucus agreeing only that they had few good options in front of them and time dwindling until an election they see as an existential test for democracy itself.
Why We Wrote This
Democrats on Capitol Hill are divided and demoralized. Many believe President Joe Biden is on track to lose, but there’s no consensus about what to do – and plenty of risk in a confrontation with the presumptive nominee.
“We’re still talking. We’re still talking,” said Rep. Bobby Scott, a Virginia Democrat who has expressed support for Mr. Biden, as he left the House meeting.
In their first full day back in Washington after the July 4 recess, congressional Democrats expressed a deepening sense of hopelessness over their party’s chances in November. But they still face the same collective-action problem that kept any serious candidate from challenging Mr. Biden for the 2024 nomination, and kept many party leaders from publicly voicing concerns about his age and mental acuity. Few want to criticize the sitting president, who is only digging in harder, if it means damaging the party’s chances against the GOP.
On Tuesday, a growing number of elected Democrats appeared prepared to once again fall in line and support Mr. Biden, even though many think he’s destined to lose to a flawed candidate they see as a would-be dictator. The emerging game plan seems to be no plan at all. And the longer their deliberations drag out, the less likely it is that Democrats will pull together to push for a change. With time running short, inertia and indecisiveness among Democratic leaders are Mr. Biden’s friends.
Outside the Washington bubble, some Democratic voters are exasperated with the lack of resolve from their representatives.
“What’s the holdup? Who are you afraid of angering?” asks Jesse Dehnert, a Democratic voter who works in construction management in Seattle. “You guys in Congress are going to anger your constituents by not doing anything.”
Mr. Biden warns ‘elites’ not to go against voters’ will. But are they?
In recent days, Mr. Biden has been making a concerted push to show fellow Democrats he’s not going anywhere – and pressuring party members to stop talking about his failures as a candidate. In a strongly worded letter to congressional Democrats on Monday, he declared: “Any weakening of resolve or lack of clarity about the task ahead only helps Trump and hurts us.” Then he called in to MSNBC’s Morning Joe, daring possible rivals to “challenge me at the convention.”
Mr. Biden held a Monday evening conference call with the Congressional Black Caucus to cement the support of a powerful bloc of House Democrats. Both the CBC head and the leader of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus soon put out statements in support of their embattled president. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a progressive leader from New York, also moved to shore up Mr. Biden on Monday night, telling reporters: “the matter is closed,” and urging Democrats to unite behind him.
The president has blamed party “elites” for trying to cast him aside against the will of Democratic voters. And to be sure, he is the presumptive nominee, thanks to voters’ support in a largely uncontested primary season.
But polls since the June 27 debate have shown the president trailing Mr. Trump by a widening margin, even in swing states where Democratic senators are ahead – and nearly half of Democrats think he shouldn’t be running. It’s true that many Democratic voters will pull the lever for Mr. Biden in November simply to avoid a second Trump term. But that doesn’t mean that “the average voter out there,” as Mr. Biden put it in his Morning Joe appearance, strongly supports him.
Mr. Dehnert of Seattle, who voted for Mr. Biden in 2020, says he wishes the president would now step aside. A different Democrat – frankly, anyone, he says – would have a better chance at beating Mr. Trump in November, who he believes is a threat to American democracy. And he’s dismayed that Mr. Biden has resorted to what he sees as Trumpian tactics to shut down dissenting voices in his party.
Other frustrated Democratic voters fear having such a public fight about Mr. Biden’s physical and mental fitness will only serve to strengthen Mr. Trump.
John McDonnell/AP
“If Biden had been primaried … I probably would have considered someone else. But if it’s Biden vs. Trump, that’s not really a choice for me,” says Lekesha Benson, a Democratic voter who serves on the city council of Seneca, South Carolina. At this point, she wishes congressional Democrats would “shut up and vote for him, ’cause you’re not going to get anyone else.”
Ms. Benson says she’s not surprised the Congressional Black Caucus was among Mr. Biden’s most vocal backers on Capitol Hill this week. During Mr. Trump’s first term, which Ms. Benson calls the “most uncomfortable years of my life,” she says the “whole rhetoric” in America changed. Black voters, says Ms. Benson, must think practically.
“We’re not thinking about his age,” she said. “We’re fearful of another Trump presidency.”
How do you just say, ‘We’re going to find a new person to run’?
Seven House Democrats have publicly called on the president to step aside, while several senators have issued statements warning Mr. Biden that he hasn’t done enough to prove he should stay in the race – but stopping short of calling for him to drop out. The president should “seriously consider the best way to preserve his incredible legacy and secure it for the future,” Washington Sen. Patty Murray, the longest-serving Senate Democrat, said in a statement Monday evening.
Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado said Monday evening that it was “an act of loyalty” to their party and the country for Democrats in positions of power to have tough conversations about whether they should push Mr. Biden to exit the race.
But a number of other Democrats have rallied around him in the past few days.
“I feel we’ve hit a turning point,” said Massachusetts Rep. Stephen Lynch, echoing Mr. Biden’s assertion that it’s “time to move on” from discussing the debate, and adding that “many more members” have come to share that view. Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York said on a private call with senior House Democrats on Sunday that Mr. Biden should step down. But on Tuesday, he said his concerns were “besides the point” now that Mr. Biden had made it clear that he wasn’t leaving.
One factor is simply timing. Democrats may not feel confident about Mr. Biden, but many fear an 11th-hour disruption would be worse. A coronation by party bosses of Vice President Kamala Harris – or an ugly, contested convention next month – are both huge risks.
“There’s no plan. How do you just say, ‘We’re going to find a new person to run’?” says Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Illinois.
Members emerge from party gatherings tight-lipped
House Democrats held a meeting at the Democratic National Committee to talk through their options Tuesday morning. Leadership required them to turn over their phones so they couldn’t text reporters from the room.
Consensus was not reached. Many emerged from the testy gathering into the sweltering Washington summer heat tight-lipped and irritable.
South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn, one of Mr. Biden’s closest allies on Capitol Hill, would only repeat “Ridin’ with Biden!” over and over. Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a former DNC chair, rebuffed the reporters who flocked to her. “Guys. I need to find my staff, if you could give me room to do that,” she said.
Nathan Howard/Reuters
Senate Democrats were no more eager to talk as they emerged from their weekly lunch that ran twice as long as usual.
Sen. Jon Tester of Montana, who on Monday called on Mr. Biden to “prove … that he’s up to the job for another four years,” would only say that the meeting was “constructive.” That’s the same word used by Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, who had planned a private meeting with Democrats to talk through a path forward but canceled it when it leaked to the press. Vermont Sen. Peter Welch said only that Democratic senators had “a ways to go,” before declining to say more.
Senators Tester and Bennet, along with Ohio Democrat Sherrod Brown, all reportedly said in the Tuesday meeting that they didn’t believe Mr. Biden could win this fall.
Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, who campaigned with the president over the weekend and has been one of Mr. Biden’s most vocal supporters, was one of the few Democrats willing to talk.
“Joe Biden is our guy. He’s my guy, and he’s the only guy ever to kick Trump’s [expletive],” he told a throng of reporters.
The handful of Democrats who are publicly pushing for Mr. Biden to get out of the race worry that the whole situation is likely to get worse. But they aren’t optimistic that the president will heed their calls.
“He’s a proud guy. He’s not a guy who listens to other people,” said Rep. Mike Quigley of Illinois. “So, we are where we are.”