By Dave Andrusko
As we head into the weekend, the push by an increasing number of Democrats to force pro-abortion President Joe Biden to agree not to run for a second term has gained momentum. While that by no means Biden will give in, more Democrats, media figures, celebrities, and special interest groups are making a concerted effort to force the 81-year-old Biden to step down.
In the interest of time, I’ll categorize them.
*Nitpicking. Suddenly, the Times is interested in factchecking what Biden says. Yesterday, the flubs he made at the end of the NATO summit and in the ensuing press conference were hugely embarrassing. By no means did Biden get a pass from Zolan Kanno-Youngs in his “Here are five takeaways from Biden’s news conference.”
In addition, the AP’s Josh Boak and Nicholas Riccardi ripped Biden in no uncertain terms. “Biden has tried to defend his feeble and tongue-tied performance in the June 27 debate against Republican Donald Trump as an outlier rather than evidence that at 81 he lacks the vigor and commanding presence that the public expects from the commander in chief.
*Money. “Donors Said to Freeze Roughly $90 Million as Long as Biden Stays in Race” screams one Times’ headline. According to Shane Goldmacher and Chris Cameron
Some major Democratic donors have told the largest pro-Biden super PAC, Future Forward, that roughly $90 million in pledged donations is now on hold if President Biden remains atop the ticket, according to two people who have been briefed on the conversations.
The frozen contributions come as he had hoped to turn the page on a weekslong crisis within his party following a nearly hourlong news conference on Thursday evening. That appearance — in which he delivered a few gaffes but also demonstrated a command of foreign policy — did not immediately seem to worsen Democrats’ fears about his viability, but it also did not silence the calls for him to drop out. After he was done speaking, three more House members joined the ranks of elected Democrats calling for Mr. Biden to end his campaign.
Which segues nicely into the ever-mounting fear that if Biden stays at the topic of the ticket, politically it would cost Democrats dearly. Nicholas Nehamas and Kellen Browning write
As President Biden insists he will stay in the presidential race, Democrats are growing increasingly alarmed that his presence on the ticket is transforming the political map, turning light-blue states into contested battlegrounds.
Down-ballot Democrats, local elected officials and party strategists say Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Mexico and Virginia — all of which Mr. Biden won comfortably in 2020 — could be in play in November after his miserable debate performance last month.
Some polls in these states suggest a tightening race between Mr. Biden and former President Donald J. Trump, with one showing a virtual tie in Virginia, which has not voted for a Republican for president since 2004, and another showing Mr. Trump squeaking ahead in New Hampshire, which has been in the Democratic column since 2000. …
The shakiness in the fringe battleground states is an alarming sign for Mr. Biden’s hopes in must-win contests that were already expected to be close, such as Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. An expanding battleground map could force his campaign to divert resources away from the traditional swing states, where he has been falling further and further behind…
[C]onsistent across all four states are widespread fears about Mr. Biden’s age, unhappiness with inflation and electorates that are more closely divided than many national observers realize, according to interviews with local Democratic officials and strategists. …
And a statewide survey in Oregon completed this week found that Mr. Biden had just a single-digit lead over Mr. Trump, according to results shared with The New York Times by a person who was not authorized to disclose them publicly.
*Celebrities turning on Biden. “Ashley Judd on Friday became the latest prominent celebrity to call for Mr. Biden to step aside, saying that in her native Tennessee, ‘Americans have already made up their minds against President Biden.’” And “Many in Mr. Biden’s stable of big donors in Hollywood have closed their wallets.” This in addition to George Clooney’s opinion piece in the Times pleading with Biden to step down.
*Environmentalists. Lisa Friedman writes, “The Sunrise Movement, a leading environmental group, calls on Biden to step aside”
*Powerful Democratic leaders. “Earlier this week, Mr. Biden seemed to have calmed Democratic panic over his candidacy with a blitz that included sending a letter to Democrats in Congress, dialing into MSNBC’s ‘Morning Joe’ and holding a conference call with top donors,” Nicholas Nehamas reports.
“That sense of stability, however, was again disrupted on Wednesday after Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the former speaker, suggested that Mr. Biden could still reconsider his decision to remain in the presidential race. Her statements were followed by more defections from House Democrats, a growing exodus that continued into Thursday, while Peter Welch of Vermont became the first Democrat from the Senate to break with Mr. Biden.
“Another key Democratic leader, Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, has signaled privately that he is open to replacing Mr. Biden on the ticket.”
And so on and so on. What effect will this have on President Biden? Predictions of what he will do roll in and out like waves. The one steady body of water is that the family and his longest serving staff members seems totally committed to Biden running for a second term.
More on the “Will Biden Run for a Second Term?” on Monday.