Democrats consider options for a path forward after Biden's debate
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In the aftermath of President Biden's disastrous debate performance last week, Democrats have both privately and publicly stated that he should step down from the ticket. The Biden campaign has been adamant that he will not drop out. But if he did, there is a long list of younger Democrats who may be considered as his replacement. NPR White House correspondent Deepa Shivaram has more.
DEEPA SHIVARAM, BYLINE: Two days after the first debate between President Biden and former President Donald Trump, Maryland Governor Wes Moore was out of cookout in Milwaukee, Wis. It was one of eight events he did over the weekend for the Biden campaign, primarily reaching out to Black voters. It was supposed to be a chance to drum up enthusiasm. But instead, he had to defend the president after his lackluster debate. Here's Moore in one of the several media interviews he did over the weekend, this one with CBS.
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WES MOORE: He got back up, and he got back to work.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: But...
MOORE: And that's the thing I think people need to remember. All of us get knocked down.
SHIVARAM: Before the debate, Moore was one of the long list of governors floated as contenders for the 2028 election, along with Michigan's Gretchen Whitmer and Gavin Newsom from California. But then came that high-stakes debate, where Biden struggled to find his words and make his case. That led to more voters expressing concern over his ability to do another four years in the job. And some lawmakers have gone public. Congressman Lloyd Doggett told Morning Edition he thinks Biden should step down.
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LLOYD DOGGETT: I think that he is far behind and that we have to put a best possibility forward instead of putting forward the same person that some called the double haters have rejected. We need to add some enthusiasm and excitement in our campaign.
SHIVARAM: Now some of these 2028ers are also now being talked about as a replacement for Biden on the 2024 ticket, and so is Vice President Harris. Recent polling from CNN shows she fares better than Biden in a matchup against Trump, but she and other Democrats have all responded similarly.
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KAMALA HARRIS: Joe Biden is our nominee. We beat Trump once, and we're going to beat him again, period.
SHIVARAM: Harris has been on the road raising money and rallying with supporters in the past few days. Newsom, for his part, was in the spin room after the debate last Thursday and has been consistently fundraising for Biden. Whitmer, one of the Biden campaign's co-chairs, has been providing critical support to Biden in her swing state of Michigan. But most of the governors haven't had the time they'd need to build a national profile where they could beat Trump. Caitlin Jewitt, a professor of politics at Virginia Tech, says that's a problem.
CAITLIN JEWITT: There is no obvious choice, and that makes this idea - that Biden should step aside and things will be better - concerning to me.
SHIVARAM: All of these leaders have continued to back Biden publicly and have largely ignored calls to have their own name on the top of the ticket. Democratic operatives say this is smart. Adrianne Shropshire does outreach to Black voters with BlackPAC. She wants Biden to stay in the race, and she says replacing him on the ticket at this late point would be disastrous for Democrats now and in the future, especially for younger politicians with presidential ambitions.
ADRIANNE SHROPSHIRE: What they don't want to do is find themselves in a place four years from now, eight years from now, when they're trying to run, and Americans - including Democrats - have lost confidence in the party itself to manage itself.
SHIVARAM: But polls have long shown that voters have real issues with Biden's ability to lead the party. Biden, though, has said he's staying in the race and will fight harder. But concerns remain high enough that Democratic governors last night met in person at the White House, including Whitmer and Newsom. And soon, Biden will be back on the road. On Friday, he'll be in Wisconsin and take part in a closely watched interview with ABC.
Deepa Shivaram, NPR News, the White House.
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