The US Independence Day holiday won’t offer much respite for Joe Biden, who is furiously trying to stem the bleeding after a disastrous debate performance one week ago.
Biden’s official schedule is empty ahead of a fireworks display on the White House South Lawn, but he’s expected to spend the day frantically shoring up support among increasingly skeptical Democratic lawmakers, voters and donors.
It’s a daunting challenge for the 81-year-old president.
Headed into today, Democrats on Capitol Hill were weighing adding their names to a letter calling for Biden to drop out. Lloyd Doggett of Texas and Raul Grijalva of Arizona didn’t wait, imploring him to step aside. Fellow Democrats predicted publicly that if he remained in the race, he would lose to Donald Trump in November.
Polls suggest the public is also souring on Biden and don’t believe he’s equipped to lead the free world. A New York Times/Siena College poll published yesterday showed Trump ahead by 49% to 43%, while a Wall Street Journal survey yielded an almost identical result.
Attention is focusing on Vice President Kamala Harris, who is now outperforming her boss in a head-to-head matchup against Trump — and is the only candidate who could cleanly inherit his campaign operation and massive war chest.
Biden looked to turn the page yesterday, calling campaign staff to insist he would not be forced from the race. He also met with Democratic governors — many with their own presidential ambitions — in a hastily arranged gathering at the White House. The governors said they would support Biden, who told them he was in the race to win it.
The president plans tomorrow to sit for an interview with ABC News and hold a rally in Madison, Wisconsin.
Time is running out for him to get his floundering reelection bid back on track. — Justin Sink