Democrats circulate letter on ‘serious concerns’ with DNC virtual roll call for Biden

Concerns over President Joe Biden‘s candidacy are resurging after a brief respite, with congressional Democrats circulating a new letter for members to sign to challenge the virtual roll call planned to elect Biden as the party’s nominee.

The letter, obtained by multiple outlets, highlights “serious concerns” about nominating Biden through a virtual roll call ahead of the Democratic National Convention as early as Sunday. The virtual call was originally decided upon to ensure the president would qualify for the ballot in Ohio. However, as the letter notes, Ohio has since changed its rules, making the virtual call no longer necessary.

“At this point, there is no serious threat to the Democratic ticket nominated in regular order at the next month’s DNC convention appearing on the ballot in Ohio or any other state,” reads the letter, which is addressed to Democratic National Committee members.

“Proceeding with the ‘virtual roll call’ in the absence of a valid legal rationale will be rightly perceived as a purely political maneuver, which we believe would be counterproductive and undermine party unity and cohesion,” the letter continues. “Moreover, it would contradict what President Biden himself has repeatedly said to members of Congress in recent days, telling us that anyone who wants to challenge his nomination should do so ‘at the convention.’”

Eighteen House Democrats and one Senate Democrat have publicly called on Biden to withdraw from the race and allow the party to select a new presidential nominee in the wake of his poor debate performance and recent verbal slip-ups on and off stage.

A spokesperson for Rep. Susan Wild (D-PA), who represents a swing district marked a “toss-up” for the 2024 election, confirmed to the Washington Examiner that she is planning to sign on to the letter.

Biden appears to be running out the clock ahead of the convention, as he will only need to withstand a few more weeks of criticism before becoming the official nominee if the virtual roll call continues as planned. The president has declared he is running in the race numerous times in interviews and in calls to several Democratic caucuses.

Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA), who is among those who raised concerns with Biden’s candidacy on a call with Progressive Caucus members over the weekend, has been circulating the letter, according to Axios and the New York Times.

“To try to squelch debate and jam this through is a power play of the highest order,” Mr. Huffman said in an interview with the New York Times. “That kind of heavy-handed move is not going to go over well with a lot of people.”

Huff man’s office told the Washington Examiner that the letter has not been sent yet and is still circulating. The congressman is not leading it, his office said.

”Rep. Huffman and other members are very concerned with this extraordinary attempt to speed up the nomination and do not think brute force is the way to achieve unity and enthusiasm,” a spokesperson for Huffman told the Washington Examiner.

The DNC changed its nominating process in May to accommodate an Aug. 7 deadline to place his name on Ohio’s ballot. The convention is scheduled for Aug. 19-22 in Chicago. However, Buckeye State lawmakers passed a bill pushing the deadline until the end of August, and it does not take effect until Sept. 1, making the virtual roll call no longer relevant, the letter argued.

“Some of us have called on President Biden to step aside, others have urged him to stay in the race, and still others have deep concerns about the status of the President’s campaign but have yet to take a position on what should happen,” the letter reads. “All of us, however, agree that stifling debate and prematurely shutting down any possible change in the Democratic ticket through an unnecessary and unprecedented ‘virtual roll call’ in the days ahead is a terrible idea. It could deeply undermine the morale and unity of Democrats — from delegates, volunteers, grassroots organizers and donors to ordinary voters — at the worst possible time.”

At a DNC press conference Wednesday morning, Biden campaign manager Quentin Fulks said the plan was to move forward with the virtual roll call.

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“They tried to do a rule change,” Fulks said. “It is our obligation as a campaign to make sure that President Biden is on the ballot, as well as Donald Trump. For anybody who is trying to play those games and any candidates who completes the process, turned in their signatures to get on the ballot and have ballot access. But we’re not going to leave it up to Ohio Republicans to have President Biden not be on the ballot in every single state. He deserves that right, he’s earned that right.”

“It’s the fact that they solved it with a legislative fix,” Fulks added when accused of dodging the question. “We moved forward, we instituted this before they had a fix, and we’re gonna continue on that path, because we’re not going to leave it up to them to change the rules again.”