Senate Democrats are President Biden’s bulwark in the Democratic Party and are sticking with him firmly, despite his disastrous debate performance in Atlanta, Report informs referring to The Hill.
Senate Democrats believe Biden, even with his shaky performance, is a stronger general election candidate than Vice President Harris, who would have a good shot at the nomination if Biden withdraws from the race.
And Democratic senators have privately acknowledged for months that there’s no way to replace Biden on the ticket unless the president himself agrees to step down. He’s built up a massive lead in pledged delegates who are obligated to support him at the convention in Chicago.
Democratic lawmakers worry that even if Biden were to drop his reelection campaign, the battle to replace him as the party’s nominee would be a messy affair and only divide their party, hurting them in the general election.
“Joe Biden might have had a bad evening, but we don’t want four bad years under Donald Trump. On the issues, I thought Biden handled them well,” Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) told reporters at the Capitol on Friday.
“Obviously we were all looking forward to a more — I guess — energetic approach,” Cardin conceded.
“But from the substance, I think the American people recognize they have a choice between a person who understands the importance of our democratic system, understands the importance of the issues that he has pursued over the last four years, his record … versus a person on the other side who continues to make things up and wouldn’t respond to simple questions,” he said of the contrast between Biden and former President Trump.
“To me it’s a clear choice that we need to make sure President Biden is reelected as president of the United States,” he said.