{"id":2285157,"date":"2024-06-28T08:07:02","date_gmt":"2024-06-28T12:07:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bidens-fight-for-political-survival-starts-now-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2024-06-28T08:11:40","modified_gmt":"2024-06-28T12:11:40","slug":"bidens-fight-for-political-survival-starts-now-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bidens-fight-for-political-survival-starts-now-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Biden\u2019s fight for political survival starts now &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fbidens-fight-for-political-survival-starts-now-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2285157&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The aftermath of a critical\u2063 presidential debate featuring President \u2062Joe Biden and former \u200dPresident Donald Trump has stirred significant unrest \u200dwithin the Democratic Party. This debate, \u200bdescribed as the \u2064beginning of what could be the most important 72\u2063 hours in Biden&#8217;s political career, revealed deep anxieties about his \u2063performance\u200d and the potential \u200bimpacts on the Democratic \u200cticket. Biden&#8217;s uncertain handling \u2064of the \u200cdebate\u200d led to calls \u200dfrom various Democratic figures and \u200cstrategists to consider a\u200c change in candidacy ahead of the \u2063upcoming national convention.\u2064 Concerns\u200b are magnified by\u200b Biden\u2019s \u200clagging behind Trump in \u200bnational polls and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/huge-sidney-powell-witness-whom-ny-times-described-as-always-the-smartest-person-in-the-room-concludes-hundreds-of-thousands-of-votes-transferred-from-trump-to-biden-in-all-battleground-states\/\" title=\"HUGE! Sidney Powell Witness Whom NY Times Described as \"Always the Smartest Person in the Room\" Concludes Hundreds of Thousands of Votes Transferred from Trump to Biden IN ALL BATTLEGROUND STATES\">key battleground states<\/a>, coupled with doubts about\u2064 his campaign strategy and\u2063 his age.\u200c Some\u200d party members, including top advisers from previous \u2062administrations, openly question Biden&#8217;s\u2064 fitness to serve another term and speculate about\u2064 the merits of \u2062an open convention \u2063to reconsider the nomination. The debate underscored\u200d existing worries and introduced the \u2064possibility of \u2064leading Democrats \u2062needing to intervene\u2064 directly, similar to historical \u200cprecedents where significant party figures have \u2064urged\u2062 a sitting president to step aside.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The most important 72 hours of President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/joe-biden\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Joe Biden<\/a>\u2019s political career kicked off roughly 10 minutes into the first presidential debate.<\/p>\n<p>By the time the CNN showdown with former President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Donald Trump<\/a> was over, long simmering Democratic doubts <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/3061685\/democrats-sound-alarm-bells-after-bidens-debate-performance\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>boiled over<\/a>. Democrats <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/politics\/3062910\/joy-reid-debate-reaction-among-democratic-operatives-approaching-panic\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>looked on in horror<\/a> as the incumbent was pummeled at times by the presumptive Republican nominee but mostly self-immolated on stage. <\/p>\n<p>The liberal media intelligentsia that has formed a protective cocoon around Biden for four years <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/presidential\/3062853\/cnn-hosts-sound-alarm-bidens-debate-performance-panic\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>gradually peeled away<\/a> with each stammer and derailed train of thought. Now he will have to outlast calls for his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/magazine-features\/3021901\/the-big-biden-panic-the-president-is-trailing-but-perhaps-the-guilty-verdict-against-trump-will-save-him\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>withdrawal from the race<\/a> or replacement at the Democratic National Convention.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[R]ight now as we speak there is a deep, a wide, and a very aggressive panic in the Democratic Party,\u201d CNN\u2019s John King said afterward. \u201cIt started minutes into the debate and it continues right now. It involves party strategists, it <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/texas-lawmaker-who-voted-against-ag-paxtons-impeachment-files-resolution-to-reform-process\/\" title=\"Texas lawmaker files resolution to reform impeachment process after voting against AG Paxton's impeachment.\">involves elected officials<\/a>, it involves fundraisers. And they are having conversations about the president\u2019s performance, which they think was dismal, which they think will hurt other people down the party [on] the ticket, and they are having conversations about what they should do about it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/3060844\/for-biden-the-debate-stakes-couldnt-be-higher\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">FOR BIDEN, THE DEBATE STAKES COULDN\u2019T BE HIGHER<\/a><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Van Jones said Biden \u201chad a test to meet tonight to restore confidence of the country and of the base. And he failed to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd I think there\u2019s a lot of people who are going to want to see him consider taking a different course now,\u201d Jones continued. \u201cWe\u2019re still far from our convention. And there is time for this party to figure out a different way forward, if he will allow us to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf, for whatever reason, there is a change at the top of the ticket, you guys are in trouble with Donald Trump,\u201d David Axlerod warned CNN\u2019s Republican panelists. But this was also a concession by a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/breaking-76-of-141-republican-representatives-in-pa-send-letter-to-congress-asking-them-to-reject-states-20-electors\/\" title=\"BREAKING: 76 of 141 Republican Representatives in PA Send Letter to Congress Asking Them to Reject State's 20 Electors\">top adviser<\/a> to former President Barack Obama that Biden may need to be replaced to bring about a competitive race. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cTime for an open convention,\u201d a Democratic operative <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2024\/06\/27\/biden-debate-opening-concerns-00165595\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>told<\/a> <em>Politico<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><em>Axios <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2024\/06\/28\/presidential-debate-cnn-format-fact-check-muted-mics\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>reported<\/a> \u201c\u200b\u200bBiden\u2019s fitness to serve another four years\u201d was \u201cnow being openly questioned even by some allies.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTelling people they didn\u2019t see what they saw is not the way to respond to this,\u201d former Obama foreign policy adviser Ben Rhodes wrote on social media, after weeks of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/white-house\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>White House<\/a> assurances that videos Biden looking exactly the way he looked on Thursday night were \u201ccheap fakes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The rare defenses of Biden were unconvincing. \u201cIt was a slow start, that\u2019s obvious to everyone. I\u2019m not going to debate that point,\u201d Vice President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/kamala-harris\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Kamala Harris<\/a> acknowledged. \u201cI\u2019m talking about the choice in November. I\u2019m talking about one of the most important elections in our collective lifetime. And do we want to look at what November will bring and go on a course for America that is about a destruction of democracy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Democrats already had doubts about Biden heading into the debate. He is trailing Trump nationally, at risk of being only the second Democratic presidential nominee to lose the popular vote since 1988. Biden is behind in most or all of the battleground states that will decide the election. There are doubts about his age and basic campaign strategy, which includes focusing on the Jan. 6 Capitol riot at a time of widespread pessimism about the economy. The Democrats\u2019 battleground state Senate candidates are mostly hanging on, including in places where Trump is leading, suggesting Biden is the problem.<\/p>\n<p>The debate put all those doubts on steroids. Now the only question is whether Democrats mount a public or private pressure campaign on Biden to bow out \u2014\u00a0and if so, whether Biden can weather it.<\/p>\n<p>One possibility is that leading Democrats copy Barry Goldwater\u2019s trip with Republicans to the White House during Watergate to tell Richard Nixon it was over. Obama, former White House chief of staff Ron Klain, or the Clintons could tell Biden that his legacy is currently getting Trump out of office and ask the president if he would like to instead be known for letting Trump back in.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSome of those conversations include \u2018Should we go to the White House and ask the president to step aside?\u2019\u201d CNN\u2019s King reported. \u201cOther conversations are about \u2018Should prominent Democrats go public with that call?\u2019 because they feel this debate was so terrible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But it is not obvious there is much Democrats can do if Biden doesn\u2019t heed their advice. He has been running for president off and on since 1987. He won all the Democratic primaries and nearly all the pledged convention delegates. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis isn\u2019t the \u201860s, okay,\u201d Axelrod said. \u201cVoters choose the nominee. He is the nominee, only he can decide whether he\u2019s going to continue\u2026 this is a guy with a lot of pride who believes in himself. The idea that he\u2019s going to say, \u2018You know, I had a bad debate, I think I\u2019m going to walk away from this.\u2019 I find it hard to believe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think it\u2019s unhelpful,\u201d Gov. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/gavin-newsom\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Gavin Newsom<\/a> (D-CA), one of the prime replacement candidates, told MSNBC about his party\u2019s freakout. \u201cAnd I think it\u2019s unnecessary. We\u2019ve got to go in and we\u2019ve got to keep our heads high. And as I say, we\u2019ve got to have the back of this president. You don\u2019t turn your back because of one performance. What kind of party does that?\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title><strong>CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>If the polls do not move, it is possible that this Democratic firestorm will blow over. Perhaps they avoid the second debate and the campaign trail. Or maybe they don\u2019t keep him in isolation for days before the September debate and he bounces back like Ronald Reagan did in 1984. Biden could borrow a page from Trump\u2019s playbook and wait for the negative headlines to die down.<\/p>\n<p>But Democrats who believe Biden\u2019s rhetoric that democracy is on the ballot this November are terrified. The president is running out of chances to assuage their fears. They, not Trump, are the biggest threat to his political future.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>President Joe Biden&#8217;s critical 72 hours began about 10 minutes into the first presidential debate against Donald Trump. Post-debate, Democratic concerns intensified as many felt Biden struggled, sometimes significantly, against Trump during the CNN event<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2659,"featured_media":2285158,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/bidenfoesconfused.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[3620,4004,33166,32076],"class_list":["post-2285157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner","tag-biden","tag-fight","tag-political-survival","tag-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/bidenfoesconfused.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2285157","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2659"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2285157"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2285157\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2285158"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2285157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2285157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2285157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}