Biden attacks the ‘elites’; disarrayed Democrats face united Republicans

DEFYING Democrats urging him to withdraw from the presidential race lest he loses to Donald Trump in November, US President Joe Biden denounced his party’s “elites” and declared that he rejected their call to step aside. Meanwhile, his Republican adversary was preparing for a victorious national convention in Milwaukee next week (Jul 15-18) where he will be officially nominated as his party’s presidential candidate.

Indeed, President Biden went on the offensive early in the week following a Fourth of July recess amid a growing chorus of congressional Democrats calling on him to exit the race.

Suggesting that he was “getting frustrated by the elites” in his party, Biden dared them during a MSNBC television interview to “challenge me in the convention” if they wanted him out.

The president’s strategy of challenging his critics seemed to work as he began winning some support for his re-election and headed off further defections among the Democratic lawmakers returning to Capitol Hill after the holiday. For now, at least, he appears to be stemming the tide of dissent.

By digging in and reiterating that he would not quit and was committed to “running this race to the end”, Biden is hoping to end all the talk about changing nominees after concerns about his candidacy mounted following his disastrous Jun 27 performance in the televised debate with Trump.

“I received over 14 million votes, 87 per cent of the votes cast across the entire nominating process,” Biden wrote in a letter to Democratic Congressional leaders. “I have nearly 3,900 delegates, making me the presumptive nominee of our party by a wide margin.”

During media appearances and telephone calls with party activists and donors, Biden said that he was heartened by the “rock-solid, steadfast support” from many Democrats, including the majority of the African-American lawmakers who are a core Democratic Party constituency.

“Biden is the nominee,” said Representative Steven Horsford, chair of the Congressional Black Caucus on Monday (Jul 8). “We’re not going back, we’re moving forward.”

Some party members, however, continue to suggest, mostly in private discussions, that Biden should end his run as soon as possible and that the Democrats nominate a new candidate during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago next month.

These Democrats are pointing to recent public opinion polls that suggest that the president continues to trail Trump in key battleground states, including Pennsylvania, Michigan, Georgia, Arizona, and Nevada, and that even states typically considered to be in the Democratic column – such as Virginia, Maine and New Hampshire – may now be leaning in the Republican presidential candidate’s direction.

Hence Representative Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, said that Biden’s debate performance was alarming and that he should withdraw from the race and give the party time to select a new candidate.

One suggestion is to hold a “mini-primary” before the convention in August, with the names of California Governor Gavin Newsom and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker mentioned as possible candidates.

Some Democrats have also raised the possibility of Vice-President Kamala Harris replacing Biden as the party’s candidate. But according to opinion polls, Harris is trailing behind Biden in a hypothetical run against Trump.

But leading Democrats – including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer from New York, former House Speaker, Representative Nancy Pelosi from California, and, for that matter, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York – have declared that they were “with Joe”.

Pollsters believe that most Democratic voters would stick with President Biden in the race against Candidate Trump. But the concern among some Democrats is that, following Biden’s dreadful debate appearance, many independent voters and Republican never-Trumpers who were considering voting for the Democratic presidential ticket, would now stay at home in November.

Meanwhile, the president is continuing to campaign in key states where he is being welcomed and buoyed by cheering crowds chanting, “Four more years! Four more years!”.

And his participation in this week’s meeting of the leaders of Nato in Washington would provide Biden an opportunity to project his role as a world leader at a time of growing international instability, and contrast his support for Ukraine with Trump’s isolationist approach.

Trump and the Republicans have benefited from the continuing media focus on Biden’s debate performance and the disarray in the Democratic Party. But attention will soon shift to the Republican National Convention next week and, in particular, to the presidential nominee’s choice of his running mate.

The list of Trump’s vice-president picks includes Senator Marco Rubio of Florida; Senator JD Vance of Ohio; South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum; New York Representative Elise Stefanik; Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton; former housing and urban development secretary Ben Carson; and Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin.

Reports suggest that the shortlist includes senators Rubio and Vance and Governor Burgum. The conventional wisdom is that Trump is seeking a vice-presidential candidate who looks good on television but who will not overshadow him. From that perspective, Youngkin may fulfil the requirements.

The Republicans released on Monday a new and relatively short party platform that refrains from calling for a national ban on abortion and puts an emphasis on Trump’s America First agenda. That includes a call for imposing baseline tariffs on foreign goods, stating that, “as tariffs on foreign producers go up, taxes on American workers, families, and businesses can come down”.

In anticipation of a possible Trump return to the White House, much of the focus of American allies during the Nato leaders meeting in Washington has been on Trump’s foreign policy agenda. The former US president, who has opposed US assistance to Ukraine, has been seen in European capitals as an isolationist. Hence the concern that he would damage US relations with its Western allies who want Washington to remain committed to defending Kyiv.

But the Republican Party’s broader leadership remains committed to an internationalist approach. In what appeared geared towards reassuring US allies, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson of Louisiana, delivered a speech in Washington on Monday in which he expressed support for Ukraine’s fight against Russia and insisted that the Republicans continue to believe in Nato’s importance.

Johnson aligned himself with the “peace through strength” foreign policy espoused by the late president Ronald Reagan, and stressed the Republican Party’s support for Israel.