Democrats Shouldn’t Step Down to Retake the House? Rep. Deborah Ross and House Minority Leader Lori Trahan Discuss White House Communications with the Caucus
Rep. Deborah Ross declined to talk about Tuesday’s caucus discussion, but used a political term southerners often use to describe Democrats who vote for any candidate with the party’s label, “I’m from North Carolina. We are yellow dog Democrats who would vote for a yellow dog over a Republican and we would also vote for a yellow dog since Donald Trump is a junkyard dog.
“While President Biden has made clear he feels he is the best candidate to win this election, nothing that has happened over the past twelve days suggests that voters see things the same way.” She stopped short of calling Biden to step aside, but added,“over the next four months, I will do everything in my power to help Democrats retake the House and defeat Donald Trump.”
He’s also given two interviews in recent days – a call to MSNBC where he essentially called on detractors who think he shouldn’t run to challenge him at the convention and an interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, where he dismissed the possibility that top Congressional leaders would come to him asking him to step aside from the campaign.
President Biden has been doing more outreach to members. He had a call last night with the Congressional Black Caucus. Black voters were critical in propelling Biden to the White House four years ago and remain a critical voting bloc for him this cycle.
Several Democrats who did speak to reporters stressed that Biden was the nominee and the party needs to return to campaigning and making the contrast between Biden’s record and Trump’s agenda.
Massachusetts Rep. Lori Trahan, who is one of the members elected to lead House Democrats on messaging, released a statement after the meeting saying she shared the concerns about Biden that she’s hearing from voters.
Most members exiting the meeting barely spoke to the flood of reporters waiting outside, with some simply saying it’s good to have a “family conversation” and the discussion is “exactly what we should be doing as a party.”
The dam was not broken when lawmakers returned to Capitol Hill, despite calls from Democrats for Biden to step aside from the campaign.
No other House or Senate Democrats joined the push for the president to withdraw as the 2024 presidential nominee, but lawmakers leaving a pair of closed door party meetings on both sides of the Capitol did not emerge on the same page. There are private concerns about what Biden will mean for the prospects of Democrats winning control of the Senate.
The internal party heads into its second week after Democratic lawmakers expressed deep concerns about President Biden’s ability to campaign aggressively enough to win the election after a poor debate performance against former President Donald Trump.
Chuck Schumer has the support of Biden. But when pressed three times about the president’s viability as a candidate and a possible challenge, Schumer repeated the same curt answer: “as I’ve said before, I’m with Joe.”
A day after he issued a statement saying he had concerns about the president and needed to show he could do the job, Montana Senator Jon Tester pointed to a written statement he’d issued. He called the closed door discussion Tuesday “constructive.”
The number two Senate Democratic leader, Dick Durbin of Illinois, when asked about Biden remaining on the ticket, said “it still remains to be seen” and said the president is putting together his campaign.
Multiple Senate Democrats say this week is really the unofficial deadline for the party to debate the best path forward, if in fact there is a move to get behind an alternative nominee.
House Democrats huddled in a private meeting Tuesday morning at the Democratic National Committee headquarters close to the Capitol for close to two hours. Lawmakers were not allowed to bring phones, and the recommendation to those leaving the session was not to discuss the conversation with the media, according to members leaving the meeting. Top leaders went through a back entrance.
Joe Biden in 2020: A Lifelong Democrat and a Contributor to Fundraiser Operations in the House of Representatives (C.C. Chambers)
The vast majority of those who spoke up during the private meeting support Biden as the nominee, according to California Representative Lou Correa, who backs Biden.
“I was surprised how much support Biden had in that room, not that it matters, because the voters, they’ve already chosen their nominee,” he told reporters. He admitted that there was some concern but didn’t see a lot of people telling him not to be the guy.
There were differences of opinion, but no disunity in the room, according to Georgia Rep. Hank Johnson.
Was he tired? Yes. A cold? Maybe. But our party leaders need to stop telling us that 51 million people didn’t see what we just saw. We have decided to ignore every warning sign that tells us that there is a chance of a second Trump term. The George Stephanopoulos interview reinforced what we saw last week. When the president walks off Air Force One or walks back to a microphone to answer a question, we keep our breath and turn down the volume.
The one battle he can’t win is the fight against time. None of us can. I had the honor of meeting Joe Biden at a fund-raiser three weeks ago, and he was not the Joe “big F-ing deal” of 2010. The Joe Biden of 2020 wasn’t him. He was the man we were watching during the debate.
I love Joe Biden. As a senator. As a vice president and as president. I believe in him and I consider him a friend. Believe in his character. Believe in the things that he says. Over the last four years, he has won a lot of battles.
I made no apologies for being a lifelong Democrat. I am proud of what the party stands for and what it represents. I have been involved in democratic process and supported my candidate in leading fund-raisers for my party. The year 2012 brought Barack Obama. Hillary Clinton did not win the election. Joe Biden in 2020. Last month I co-hosted the single largest fund-raiser supporting any Democratic candidate ever, for President Biden’s re-election. I say all of this only to express how much I believe in this process and how profound I think this moment is.