Joe Biden’s party is struggling to pressure the 81-year-old president. Republicans have a clear view: it doesn’t matter.
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(Bloomberg) — Joe Biden’s party is mired in turmoil over whether to press the 81-year-old president. Republicans have a clear view: it doesn’t matter.
The battle that has torn apart Democratic circles since last month’s disastrous debate between Biden and Donald Trump excited delegates at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee this week, with many saying they don’t think their rivals’ key decisions will change the race.
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Some say it doesn’t matter whether Democrats replace Biden, while others say the party could be worse off. One thing is clear: the incumbent president appears to pose no threat to Trump, and Republicans believe Democrats have no choice but to recapture momentum in the race.
“I like where they are — stuck, divided, fighting, when we’re united,” said Ed Cox, chairman of the New York Republican Party. “There’s no way we can push him, but he’s started such momentum that he’s in real trouble.”
Biden has repeatedly said he won’t step down, but that doesn’t dispel doubts in his party. This week has brought many reports that leading Democrats have given Biden a personal warning that he should seriously consider it. A senior Biden aide said he wanted to run, while other allies said it was likely he would step aside.
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Meanwhile, Republicans have been buoyed by a steady stream of polls showing Trump ahead of Biden on a key issue heading into the November election — the economy given the president’s early struggles with inflation. That’s despite the cost of living showing signs of abatement and low unemployment.
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Delay Democrats
The Democratic National Committee said on Wednesday it would not begin voting on the call to formally anoint Biden as its nominee until at least August 1, a delay that has threatened the party to try to speed up Biden’s nomination to end the call. for the open convention in August.
However, at their own meetings, Republicans did not show concern that the new ticket could affect the Democratic banner campaign.
Trump “is going to beat one of them, hands down, it doesn’t make any difference,” said Debbie Sachs Alvis, the Alabama Republican delegate, Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris said.
“They’re both trying to keep it out of the question, respectfully,” said Georgia delegate Bruce LeVell.
Larry Elder, who briefly ran for president in the Republican primary, said it “doesn’t matter” if it’s Biden or Harris, but it will be one of the two.
“You step over Kamala Harris, you’re walking over Black women voters and they will be livid,” he said. “So he’s stuck with Biden or Harris.”
Republican pollster Tony Fabrizio said Republicans are benefiting from the unrest.
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“If it’s not President Biden, the notion that he’s going to skip Kamala Harris, and give it to some unknown candidate, I think is good,” he said, at an event hosted by the University of Chicago Institute. Politics on the sidelines of the GOP convention.
He said Republicans are poised to pivot if Harris becomes the nominee, and polls show the public has little awareness of his record. “We are ready to define them,” he said.
Age Comparison
Still, removing Biden from the ballot gives Democrats some options. Any replacement, including Harris or other possibilities — such as Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer or California Gov. Gavin Newsom — would be decades younger than Biden, in contrast to the 78-year-old Trump.
Choosing a new candidate quickly would allow Democrats to move past the intense intra-party battle that has been raging for weeks. Instead, he could use his energy to campaign against Trump and the policy ideas of his allies — including plans to reshape the government workforce and limit abortion access.
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But swaps can also prove complicated. For example, the fine print of these late-stage changes raises the question of whether there is time to get new candidates on the ballot in key states.
Republicans have seized on an important Democratic line of attack – that this election is about preserving democracy – to criticize the party establishment now considering whether to force the nomination of a primary winner, albeit one that is virtually uncontested.
“I think for the sake of democracy itself, they should stay on the ticket,” former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said this week in an interview on the convention floor. “If they think democracy is important, then they should have made this decision a year ago.”
—With assistance from Julie Fine and Billy House.
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