Democrats’ panic not subsiding as Biden seeks to run out clock on swap

President Joe Biden appears to be running out the clock ahead of the Democratic National Convention after the dam on his political future bent but didn’t break following House Democratic caucus meetings and calls with frontliners concerned about Biden’s candidacy for November.

Nine House Democrats and one senator, Peter Welch (D-VT), have publicly called on Biden to withdraw from the presidential race after his poor debate performance and months of gaffes and mishaps. Of the 10, three Democrats spoke out after the caucus meeting in both chambers on Tuesday from which members left divided — some thought there was almost complete unity, while others felt like they still weren’t in sync.

With the convention quickly approaching in a little over two months, Democrats have a short window if they do decide to replace Biden as their nominee. The president has declared he is running in the race numerous times: in a letter to House Democrats on Monday, in private calls and meetings with groups like the Congressional Black Caucus, and at rallies across the country.

However, comments from leaders and top Democrats about the nomination being “Biden’s decision” are signaling that the panic around Biden’s candidacy is not over. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) unleashed a frenzy on Wednesday after noting that it is the president’s choice whether to stay in the race, leading many to speculate about whether Democrats are accepting the inevitable and taking a hands-off approach or insinuating that Biden’s decision to stay the nominee is not final.

“President Biden is the nominee,” House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-MA) told reporters on Wednesday. “There is just no light between our caucus and the work we have done with this administration and the work that we will do in the future. As always, this decision is up to the president.”

Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV) also implied that the president has not made a decision yet despite his repeated confirmations.

“I think we’ve got to do something fast, whether … he decides to run or not. I think tomorrow’s press conference — a lot of people are watching that to see how that turns out,” Titus said to Politico, referring to the White House press briefing where Biden himself will address questions from reporters after dodging similar situations for months.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) has told Democrats in recent meetings that he will relay the concerns he is hearing to Biden, according to CNN. This comes after Jeffries met with swing-district members on Wednesday morning and plans to meet with the center-left New Democrat Coalition, per Axios.

Some members are arguing that Biden’s announcement that he is staying in the race doesn’t make it official.

“It doesn’t work that way,” Rep. Jared Huffman (D-MA) said to CNN. “I had totally decided to take an Uber to dinner. And then I heard about the gridlock in D.C. because of the NATO traffic. And I redirected to the Metro and it was a really smart decision.”

Waiting in the wings as a likely replacement for Biden is Vice President Kamala Harris. However, in some ways, she serves as an insurance policy for the president to remain on the ticket.

Harris has historically low approval ratings. If she proved to be more popular with voters, it would be easier for Biden to step aside and pass the torch to Harris as the new Democratic leader. However, the party is not unified over the idea that Harris can win, with certain polling suggesting she could be a weaker candidate than Biden.

Trump is taking note of the situation as well.

“You have to give him credit for one brilliant decision: picking Kamala Harris as his VP was the greatest insurance policy of all time. If Joe had picked someone even halfway competent, they would have bounced him from office years ago,” Trump said at his rally in Florida on Tuesday night.

Another possibility raised by GOP members is that a vote for Biden is also a vote for Harris because he could remain the nominee but then step down halfway through the term to allow the vice president to ascend to the White House.

However, many Democrats are not entertaining the idea that there are concerns over Harris’s viability as a candidate.

“She’s done a very good job as vice president, and I don’t think there’s any reason to talk about her,” Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) said.

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House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) has blasted Democrats for sounding the alarm on Biden’s ability to be president now despite him being the “same Joe Biden” Republicans have seen for some time now. He said in an interview with the Washington Examiner on Tuesday that Democrats’ “back-room” discussions on whether to replace Biden with Harris or another name shows “complete disdain for their own voters.”

“There were a number of Democrats who ran against Joe Biden,” Scalise said. “And Joe Biden was the clear winner on their side: 14 million Democrat voters went to the polls to vote for Joe Biden to be the candidate for president on their side. And right now in Washington, and you know, back rooms up here, smoke-filled rooms, they want to try to throw out the will of the votes of 14 million people and pick somebody else. And I think that’s about as arrogant and elitist as you can get.”