The Day After Biden Decided to Leave: The First Three and a Half Years After the 2016 Democratic Presidential Debate and the Birth of a Nation
“As a historical matter, very, very few people do this,” historian Jon Meacham, who has helped in writing speeches for Biden, including his 2023 State of the Union address, told NBC News on Sunday, “and in an era where so many of us privilege power over principle, where a lot of us would rather take than give, I think it’s a moment for the country to consider that the president has given us a lesson: that our own wishes, our own immediate desires, should not always be controlling.”
Biden’s concession was called patriotic by Democrats in an attempt to draw a contrast with Trump. It would be a difficult decision for a president who has been around as long as Biden has.
Nothing like this has happened since Lyndon B. Johnson decided against running for reelection in 1968. Even then, LBJ made the announcement in March, not July. Like Biden, LBJ did it because of the writing on the wall. He had health concerns, and he was unpopular because of the Vietnam War.
The numbers can move things, even if politicians want to be the top dog. And both combined to exert a huge amount of pressure on Biden to reconsider. Money had started to dry up, and he was slipping in swing states after his disastrous June 27 debate.
Biden indicated in an ABC interview that only the “Lord Almighty,” polls showing his party losing or maybe some combination of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, current House Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina could get him to step aside.
The leader of the charge appeared to be Pelosi, one of the most savvy political operators in the Democratic Party. She pays very close attention to the polls and she listens to the swing-state Democrats who had seen a cratering in the numbers in their states and districts. Eventually, Biden got past denial to acceptance.
The three-and-a-half weeks of the presidential campaign have been among the worst of all time, from the debate to Biden contracting Covid-19.
But with this announcement, Democrats are smiling and seem energized for the first time since before the debate. It does not mean they’ll win the race, but they have more money and enthusiasm thanks to this. The Democrats gave $48 million through ActBlue, which is the largest site that processes donations. Since the 2020 election, it is the biggest single day of Democratic donations.
The campaign has been reset, and it is clear that the Republicans don’t have a clear idea of how they are going to run against Harris.
They have accused Biden of being too old and not good enough to run the country, and of having enriched himself and his son.
That presents all kinds of risks for how Republicans talk about Harris; a Black woman running against two white men brings a different dynamic than another older white man.
It’s not often that Democrats get to troll Republicans, but soon after Biden’s announcement, many were trying to flip the script, saying the country can’t have a president who would be 83 at the end of his term.
The Candidates for Kamala Harris: Candidates for the Post-Horizon General Reionization Conclave and the Democratic Presidency
For someone to challenge Harris at the convention they will need the signatures of at least 300 delegates to get on a ballot. For context, Biden has some 3,900 delegates. It’s certainly possible someone challenges Harris, but who?
Many people associated with Biden’s replacement, including the governor of Pennsylvania, the California Gov., the Michigan Gov., and the transportation secretary, have endorsed Harris.
Throw the polls out. We are starting from scratch. Before Sunday, polls had shown Harris polling about the same as Biden. The latest national NPR/PBS News/Marist poll, for example, had Biden up 50% to 48% over Trump, within the margin of error. Harris was also statistically tied, 50% to 49% over Trump.
That is when people thought of her as a hypothetical candidate. Harris is going to face a whole new level of scrutiny now that she’s the actual nominee.
She wasn’t very good as a candidate for the Democratic nomination. She struggled to convey her core values, instead saying she saw herself as a problem solver. She is a liberal in the state but faces criticism that she is too tough on crime as attorney general. She has had to deal with messaging at times as vice president, including on immigration, where Biden placed her in charge early on.
“Kamala Harris will be the next president of the United States,” said Jamal Simmons, who was Harris’ communications director in the second year of the administration. She is a better candidate than she is, with a great position on the most important issue to the Democratic coalition and a majority of Americans who are anti-MAGA.
And she has the opportunity to rejigger the electoral map. There are risks and rewards with each of these candidates and some of the names floated include lots of white, male moderates.
Shapiro, 51, is a popular pick in Democratic circles because he’s generally well-liked, has handled thorny issues competently and is from Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania has seen more ad money than any other state. The Trump campaign knows it has to take one of the blocks out of the Blue Wall — Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. They’ve targeted Pennsylvania more than any other swing state, and, as of Sunday morning, were holding onto a narrow lead there in an average of the polls.
The popular Democrat is Beshear. He’s won praise from both sides of the aisle for how he’s worked with both parties, but he’s in a Republican presidential state.
Kelly is from a swing state. He’s an astronaut married to former Rep. Gabby Giffords, who was shot in 2011 at a constituent event; he’s shown he can raise a lot of money for Democrats, and he could help, to a degree, blunt Republicans’ immigration attacks since he is from a border state and has separated himself some from Biden on border policy. He is from a state that has fewer delegates than Pennsylvania or North Carolina.
Biden has been in public life since 1972, when he was a 29-year-old senator. He wasn’t even old enough to serve in the Senate at the time. He turned 30 two weeks after his election.
He has always wanted to be president and has been told by plenty of people in his life that he couldn’t do a lot of things. He defeated Trump in 2020 and Democrats say he saved democracy. The path forward was narrowing and possibly no longerexistent now.
Up First: Breaking the Cycles of Emotions in the U.S. Post-Trump Era with a Positive, Positive Approach
Good morning. You’re reading the Up First newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox, and listen to the Up First podcast for all the news you need to start your day.
It’s been a rollercoaster for U.S. politics lately. Keeping up with the headlines can feel extremely stressful, especially with the election looming in just four months. Even before the attempt on Trump’s life and Biden’s exit from the race, psychologists said it was normal for people to feel heightened negative emotions in this political climate. If you’re feeling intense, long-lasting symptoms of prolonged sadness, worry, hopelessness or physical tension, it could be time for an intervention. Here are some strategies to help, according to psychologists:
