Semafor Signals
Biden’s damage control is faltering
Insights from Politico, The Washington Post, and CNN
The News
Despite the White House’s damage control efforts since Biden’s disastrous debate performance, prominent Democrats are increasingly going public with their criticism.
Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Texas became the first Democrat in Congress to call for Biden to step down, saying in a statement that “I am hopeful that he will make the painful and difficult decision to withdraw.” Adam Frisch, a Democratic Congressional nominee in Colorado, swiftly followed, saying that “the path ahead requires a new generation of leadership.”
Biden’s efforts to calm Democrats’ fears over whether he can be an effective nominee appear so far to have floundered. Days after the debate, Democrats were still supplying uneasy quotes on record and on background, while polling has trickled in that could influence their thoughts, too.
Meanwhile, three quarters of US voters believe Democrats would have better odds of keeping the White House with a candidate other than Biden, a CNN poll conducted after the debate showed. A Reuters/Ipsos poll similarly found that one in three Democrats think Biden should withdraw his reelection bid.
Biden is expected to speak with Democratic governors on Wednesday, Bloomberg reported. He will also give an interview to ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos, with portions airing on Friday.
SIGNALS
First elected Democrat calls on Biden to withdraw
Liberal pundits, editorial boards at major outlets, and progressive activists called for Biden to drop out en masse after the debate, but until Tuesday, no governor or member of Congress had done so. Congressman Doggett is not especially prominent, but he broke the dam on what Politico’s Rachel Bade described as a “collective action problem” among Democrats worried about Biden’s status but reluctant to lead a charge to push him out of the race. Others may be waiting in the wings. The Washington Post reported West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, an independent who caucuses with Democrats and played a key role in Biden’s policy agenda, considered calling on Biden to withdraw over the weekend but was talked out of it. “Nobody wants to be the first one to knife Julius Caesar,” the paper quoted one Democratic Party official saying.
Key Democrats hedge on Biden’s viability
Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a bellwether for Democratic opinion, sounded more hesitant than earlier this week to back Biden’s continued nomination. “I think it’s a legitimate question to say ‘is this an episode or is this a condition,’” Pelosi told MSNBC, while defending his record and adding Trump should face similar questions. Other party members also sounded increasingly frustrated with Biden and his team’s post-debate response. “I really do criticize the campaign for a dismissive attitude towards people who are raising questions for discussion,” Democratic Sen. Peter Welch of Vermont told Semafor’s Joseph Zeballos-Roig. “That’s just facing the reality that we’re in.” CNN’s Jake Tapper also reported on X that some Democratic governors, on a call together to discuss the race, expressed surprise that Biden had not personally called them to reassure them (Tapper later clarified the post after some governors’ staffers contradicted the reporting).
CNN poll boosts Harris nomination
Tuesday’s CNN poll put Kamala Harris within the margin of error in a hypothetical matchup with Trump, with 47% of registered voters supporting Trump, 45% Harris. That’s an improvement on Trump’s 49-43 lead against Biden in the same poll, and better than other hypothetical nominees, too. The poll was especially notable because much of the debate among left-leaning commentators about sticking with Biden has centered on whether Harris, who has historically not been well-liked in polls, would perform better. While Harris has emerged as “Biden’s strongest public defender,” she also remains “the likeliest alternative to the current ticket,” The Wall Street Journal reported. Biden’s campaign pollster, Geoff Garin, has said that their internal polling still shows a tight and unchanged race in swing states.
