Behind the Curtain: Top Dems now believe Biden will exit
Several top Democrats privately tell us the rising pressure of party congressional leaders and close friends will persuade President Biden to decide to drop out of the presidential race, as soon as this weekend.
Why it matters: The 81-year-old president, now self-isolating with COVID, remains publicly dug in. But privately he's resigned to mounting pressure, bad polls, and untenable scrutiny making it impossible to continue his campaign, the Democrats tell us.
Behind the scenes: The private message, distilled to its bluntest form: The top leaders of his party, his friends and key donors believe he can't win, can't change public perceptions of his age and acuity, and can't deliver congressional majorities.
The president is being told that if he stays in, former President Trump could win in a landslide and wipe away Biden's legacy and Democrats' hopes in November.
State of play: The pressure to step aside as a candidate has been rising to intolerable levels, especially over the past few days.
Democrats fully expect polls after the Republican National Convention to show a possible blowout that could bring down Democrats in Congress, too.
"His choice is to be one of history's heroes, or to be sure of the fact that there'll never be a Biden presidential library," one of the president's close friends told us. "I pray that he does the right thing. He's headed that way."
Yesterday's AP poll, showing nearly two-thirds of Democrats want Biden to withdraw from the presidential race, ricocheted through the White House and Congress.
A panic pressure campaign is pounding Biden. It has been relentless — and coordinated. — Axios
The situation has basically turned into irrelevance.
ReplyDeleteDemocrats will likely lose if Biden is the candidate.
Democrats will also likely lose if Biden quits as candidate , because it is already late July, and replacing Biden with Kamala Harris or anyone else will not make sufficient impact, especially against Trump.