Efforts continue to nudge Biden to withdraw from US presidential race

Calls from the public and senior Democratic Party members urging President Joe Biden to step down from the presidential race seemed to have waned recently. However, US media reports suggest that private efforts to nudge the president and his top aides to reconsider persist.

Among these efforts, as reported by CNN citing Democratic Party sources, are multiple memos from the experienced and respected party pollster, Stanley Greenberg, who has shared his analysis. Greenberg has suggested that Biden is on course to lose the election, which could severely impact other Democratic candidates.

“Devastating,” was how one Democrat described a recent polling memo Greenberg sent to Biden’s inner circle, CNN reported. “Lose everything,” stated another Democrat close to the White House who is familiar with Greenberg’s memos.

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Alarm set off by pollster

These sources indicated that Greenberg has dispatched several memos over the past fortnight since Biden’s disastrous debate performance. These memos analyse internal polling, which Greenberg argues shows that the president’s standing is worsening, with a significant portion of Americans doubting his capability to serve another four years.

Greenberg, a leading Democratic pollster for decades, has previously advised Bill Clinton during his successful presidential campaigns. When contacted on Monday evening, he declined to comment.

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Another worry, if not bigger

Additionally, several Democratic members of Congress have continued to lobby privately, urging Biden’s top advisers to consider the potential damage to his legacy if he not only loses the presidency but also leads to Republicans retaining the House and capturing the Senate majority.

CNN quoted one Democratic lawmaker as saying that while some top Biden aides understand the severity of the situation, they believe it can be turned around. Furthermore, they describe the president as firmly convinced of his ability to win.  

In an interview with NBC News on Monday, Biden reiterated his intention to stay in the race.

The lawmaker expressed that making additional public calls for Biden to step aside would be counterproductive at this moment, given the need for a unified party response to the Republican convention this week and the president’s repeated public assertions of his intention to continue his campaign.

However, the lawmaker predicted that this stance might change if polling and other data following the GOP convention indicated a further decline in the president’s standing.