As President Joe Biden’s campaign scrambles to calm nerves over the president’s disastrous debate performance, Democrats on Capitol Hill are growing increasingly furious with those around him and increasingly despondent about his re-election prospects — and their own chances of winning. win majorities in the House and Senate.
Talks of a change in strategy are already underway, with some Democratic lawmakers and many deep-pocketed donors deliberating on how Biden should proceed in the race to ensure congressional control of a second term of Donald Trump.
“The way I talk to my donors is: the House is the last firewall, folks. We to have to flip the House,” a House Democrat told Playbook last night. “Ninety-nine percent of the people I talked to can’t get their credit card out fast enough.”
Those private conversations could eventually culminate in an explicit campaign to impose Democratic checks on an expected Trump presidency — just as Republicans in Congress did in 1996, when Bob Dole was on his way to a blowout.
The Democrats aren’t there yet. Top party leaders, we are told, are prepared to continue fighting for Biden as the party’s top choice for November, as they did yesterday on the show circuit on Sunday. Part of it is a collective action problem — no one wants to be first, and possibly last — and part of it is that many believe Biden’s speaking out could only dig deeper into it.
But make no mistake: the desperation and frustration are real and are rising within the party. It has been felt acutely by members on the front lines — the swing district Democrats, who would be the cornerstone of any majority. Donors blew up their phones this weekend, with some urging them to go public with a group letter calling for a new candidate, an idea some discussed over the weekend.
“The leadership of the party should go to the White House, throw open the doors and say, ‘Time is up,’” said an adviser to top Democratic donors. “Anyone who tries to prolong the inevitable here is essentially putting us on a gigantic death march towards the end.”
That sense of anger is palpable among rank-and-file Democrats in Congress, many of whom blame Biden and his family for hiding the reality of his condition. The House of Representatives Democrat complained that he defended the president during his campaign despite receiving political advice to run from him, only to find out how bad things were on Thursday.
“It’s just because of his selfishness and his family’s capabilities,” the person said. “Jill [Biden] of all people – she sees him every day. She is the only one who can put an end to this train wreck. … This should have been a one-term president.”
Many senior Democrats have not given up hope that Biden will change his mind if new polls show massive internal bleeding. They are willing to argue that a graceful departure, rather than dishonoring his legacy, would be one of his greatest and most selfless acts to save democracy.
“There’s a tremendous amount of affection and respect for the president — but no one thinks it’s sustainable,” a senior Democratic aide told Playbook.
Republicans, meanwhile, are preparing to portray Democrats as enablers of a weak president.
During the weekend the NRSC teased a new strategy to make Democrats eat their own words by downplaying concerns about Biden’s fitness for office. In Pennsylvania, Republican David McCormick went live with a new ad that ping-ponged from incumbent Senator Bob Casey expressing confidence in Biden’s leadership with the president’s faltering debate performance.
“Casey knew about Biden’s condition,” the words on the screen read.
The NRCC has put together a similar dossier and plans to “weaponize the silence of vulnerable House Democrats… by taking advantage of Biden’s political collapse to expand the map and grow the Republican majority in the House,” according to a new memo obtained by Playbook.
“The Democrats in the House of Representatives witnessed and enabled this crisis through their own recklessness and loyalty to their party over the people of this country,” the memo continues.
DCCC spokesperson Viet Shelton dismissed the Republican threat, arguing that “House races have always been about the strength of our candidates, combined with the fact that Democrats get results when they are in charge, while extreme Republicans sow chaos.” He also noted that Democrats are outpacing their Republican opponents.
Left unsaid: They also significantly outpace Biden. But if recent history is any guide, that could easily change.
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