Election 2024: Silence strategic, and silence conspicuous

(The Center Square) – Democratic leaders in Raleigh have not hesitated to show support for President Joe Biden since his disastrous debate with former president Donald Trump.

Washington congressional colleagues, however, are a different story. More than a week later, Democratic U.S. Reps. Donald Davis, Deborah Ross, Valerie Foushee, Kathy Manning, Alma Adams, Wiley Nickel and Jeff Jackson have neither a press release nor social media post to X related to the debate or Biden staying in the race.

The president was in Raleigh the day after – his first stop afterward other than an Atlanta-area Waffle House – where Gov. Roy Cooper and Attorney General Josh Stein were on hand. And, Cooper was invited and a participant in an in-person and virtual meeting of Democratic governors on Wednesday.

In the most notable of recent remarks, he posted a statement that evening to social media saying, “We had a good meeting with the president talking about what’s needed to win. Donald Trump is an existential threat to our democracy, and everyone in the room agreed that defeating him is imperative. President Biden told us he is definitely running for reelection, he is our nominee and we’ll continue doing everything we can to deliver North Carolina for him.”

Two things stood out in the governor’s message.

As it relates to democracy, three Democrats appointed to the state Board of Elections have drawn federal inquiry from the Judiciary Committee in the House of Representatives because enough signatures were on petitions from three parties seeking access to North Carolina ballots this election cycle. They were denied 3-2, with both Republicans in favor.

As it relates to delivery of North Carolina, the only Democrats to win the state in the last 14 presidential elections – dating back to 1964’s overwhelming win by Democratic incumbent Lyndon B. Johnson over Sen. Barry Goldwater of Arizona – were Jimmy Carter in 1976 and Barack Obama in 2008. And neither man repeated four years later against, respectively, Ronald Reagan of California and John McCain of Arizona.

Anderson Clayton, the 26-year-old chairwoman of the state Democratic Party, was four days past her 11th birthday when Biden became vice president. She noted on social media after Biden’s visit last week, “I’ll be thinking about the energy in that room for the next 128 days – we can do this North Carolina!”

Ironically, the president’s energy is in question.

The story has changed a bit in explanation of Biden’s subpar performance against Trump in Atlanta. He was said to have a cold that night, though his voice showed no effect in volume on Friday from behind his teleprompter in Dorton Arena. And he chose to be up close with patrons and his wife Dr. Jill Biden in a crowded Waffle House right after the debate.

Biden on Tuesday said jet lag was a reason for his poor showing. At a briefing earlier that day, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre did not say it once, did mention a cold, and acknowledged a “bad night” 13 times. Biden was in France on June 6, Italy on June 12, and flew home from Los Angeles on June 16. He traveled by air to McLean, Va., on June 18.

In the 11 days between coming home from California and June 27 departure to Atlanta, he was mostly at Camp David in Maryland.

Republicans have pounced, even in silence. Trump has notably been more quiet than usual the past week, allowing attention to continuously spin-cycle on the Biden performance. U.S. Reps. Lloyd Doggett of Texas and James Clyburn of South Carolina stirred the pot questioning Biden’s continued candidacy.

Davis, of North Carolina’s 1st Congressional District, was on home soil Tuesday and visiting farms with drought conditions. In media availability, he was asked about Biden and said the debate was “a disaster” and he needed to “step up.” Davis stopped short of saying whether Biden should continue.

Davis’ November challenge from Republican Laurie Buckhout is considered the only toss-up of 14 congressional races in the state. In fact, so upset with map redistricting were Manning, Nickel and Jackson that they opted not to try to retain their seats, with the latter deciding to challenge Republican U.S. Rep. Dan Bishop for Stein’s attorney general seat.

In an op-ed written for CNN, Republican U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis expressed genuine sadness for Biden’s health and noted it is common in the aging process. Biden completes his 82nd year on earth in November.

Tillis wrote, “Does Biden have the stamina and clear-headed judgment that was needed to defuse the Cuban missile crisis and prevent a nuclear war with the Soviet Union? Does Biden have the strength and resoluteness that were needed to respond to Imperial Japan’s bombing of Pearl Harbor? Does Biden have the vigor that was needed to hunt down and annihilate the terrorists who attacked our nation on 9/11? Could Biden lead our nation through a national security crisis on two hours of sleep for weeks on end? Do you have confidence Biden would make the right choice if his generals were to turn to him in the Situation Room and ask him to make a decision that has life-or-death consequences for Americans?”

Republican Rep. Dr. Greg Murphy on Tuesday took to social media to declare, “The American people deserve to know who has really been making the decisions at the White House. It obviously has not been @POTUS,” a reference to his X handle for President of the United States.