As President Joe Biden�s support continues to crumble, his party is
reckoning with the possibility of a punishing defeat in November � a
potential GOP wave that would not only elect former President Donald Trump
but also sweep away Democrats from power in Congress.

Their angst about Biden prompted one vulnerable member of Congress, Rep.
Mike Levin (D-Calif.), to ask the president directly on Friday to consider
dropping out � a stunning confrontation that has deeply rattled Democrats
who were already anxious about the high stakes of the moment. Biden�s
response, according to a member on the call: I�m running.

And there�s a newfound urgency. Democrats are realizing that Biden�s path
to victory is narrowing. His chances in critical Sun Belt states like
Arizona and Nevada are dwindling, some Rust Belt states are at risk and
blue safe zones like New Hampshire are suddenly in play.

Some big donors are threatening to withhold millions of dollars in pledges
to pressure Biden to step aside, and rewarding lawmakers who urge the
president to let someone else take his place.

All these forces are fueling a panic within the party that Biden�s
meltdown could catapult Republicans into a trifecta in Washington. Some
worry that Biden could drag down the rest of the ticket so badly that they
not only fail to win back the House, but Trump and Hill Republicans could
be handed big-enough majorities in both chambers to actually carry out
huge GOP priorities.

�They are nervous about the upcoming election,� Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-
Mo.) said of his Democratic colleagues who are calling for Biden to step
down from the ticket. �If anybody tells you they�re not, they�re lying.�

The anxieties about being tied to Biden � who polls show has lagged behind
Trump in key battlegrounds for months, but has slipped even more recently
� permeate the entire ticket. Democrats� quest to assert more local
control may be compromised as well, as Biden�s crisis could jeopardize
their attempts to flip legislative chambers in swing states like Arizona
and Pennsylvania, and hang onto Michigan and Minnesota.

�If this were any other Democratic candidate, we could talk about how
terrible the 34-count convicted felon is, but we�re in this discussion
about Biden�s age,� said one Michigan state lawmaker granted anonymity to
speak freely.

More than two dozen lawmakers, Hill staffers, state officials and
Democratic operatives were interviewed for this article. Most were granted
anonymity to freely discuss the situation or weren�t authorized to speak
publicly.

Inside the Capitol, Democrats who fear Biden can�t win make up a majority
of the party and a growing number are willing to say so publicly.

�It�s over,� one aide to a battleground Democrat said of the fight to flip
the House. �It doesn�t matter if they�re outperforming him by 35 fucking
points. The math doesn�t work.�

And among those Democrats � especially in the House � there is a growing
dread that the political gravity has shifted enormously in the last week.
On Monday, Biden�s campaign had temporarily quieted his defectors. But by
Friday, many senior Democrats privately believed a push to remove the
president at the highest levels was inevitable, even after he held a
nearly hourlong press conference after the NATO summit Thursday
specifically to calm detractors.

No one will say out loud that the upper rungs of House leadership want
Biden to drop his bid. But lawmakers and senior aides say the two people
who could bring an end to the hand wringing � Minority Leader Hakeem
Jeffries and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi � have conspicuously chosen not
to. In private conversations with some fellow Democrats, Pelosi has
suggested she wants him to step aside, according to two people familiar
with the discussions.

Privately, Democratic leaders know the longer this goes, the worse it is
for the party. Jeffries� team had encouraged lawmakers that if they
planned to speak, do it sooner than later, according to three people
familiar with the discussions � hoping to avoid a drip-drip of member
comments in the coming weeks.

Jeffries released no details from his one-on-one with Biden on Thursday
night. Those parsing his letter afterwards, though, said they believed he
did �deliver the bad news,� according to one Democrat.

A spokesperson for Jeffries declined to comment on a private meeting.

Democrats, taking stock of Biden�s extremely narrow path to victory, are
beginning to believe that their personal political interests are being
jeopardized along with the president�s.

�I think the map is a lot more narrow than it was,� said a Democratic
strategist. �Obviously anything is possible, and there are a lot of weeks
ahead of us. But we have to be perfect, and we cannot afford to make
mistakes, and I don�t think that�s what we�re seeing right now.�

Biden is still certain to win blue California�s electoral votes. But
Democratic lawmakers, senior aides and consultants fear his struggles
could endanger incumbents who might otherwise be safe and dangerously
narrow offensive opportunities � costing them control of the House.

�I don�t think there�s any coming back from the debate,� said a Democratic
consultant who�s working on multiple battleground races, including in
California. �There�s nothing that can be done to repair that.�

One group of former House Democrats is so concerned about Biden�s drag
down ballot that they penned a letter to Biden calling for an �open
convention� to salvage the party�s chances in November.

Part of the problem: Biden is polling far behind his 2020 vote share in
scores of competitive House districts. Internal surveys from May and June
show him losing districts in New York and California that he carried by
double-digit margins four years ago.

That has left key Democratic candidates in the �infuriating� position of
�watching the dam,� the consultant said: grimly aware that Biden�s woes
could sink them, hoping for a change, but unable to speak up for fear of
antagonizing the White House.

The panic among California Democrats is not rooted in post-debate poll
drop-offs but a fear that there�s only so much altitude they can maintain
if Biden tanks at the top of the ticket.

Democratic incumbents in the toughest seats could still hold on, if they
can keep running far ahead of Biden and raising enormous amounts of cash.
Democratic polling conducted in June for an outside group showed that
incumbent Democrats in endangered seats were running an average of 9
points ahead of Biden in their districts, according to a person with
direct knowledge of the polling.

�If Biden remains the nominee and shows real weakness, can you have this
massive split ticket?� one strategist said. �It�s not the current polling
data [that�s the problem], it�s projecting out.�

Some Democrats are now saying openly that they believe Trump will win the
election so that they can position themselves as a check on his power.
Among them are Reps. Jared Golden (D-Maine) and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez
(D-Wash.), who hold districts that Trump won in 2020.

Party operatives have begun to seriously consider a broader shift toward
this message to address voters� anxieties about a Trump win.

�There�s going to be a big pivot to �we need to be a check on Trump,�� a
strategist said.

New York state could play a crucial role in control of the House, with as
many as seven swing seats. The support for Biden among Democrats running
in those seats is eroding, but hasn�t broken. So far, just Rep. Pat Ryan
(D-N.Y.), representing a seat in the Hudson Valley, has explicitly called
on Biden to step aside and not run in November. But he avoided discussing
the president�s possible drag down ballot in his argument.

Others Democrats expressed concerns, like Josh Riley, who is challenging
Rep. Marc Molinaro (R-N.Y.) for an upstate seat, and told POLITICO that
voters �are not wrong� for wishing they had different options in the
presidential race. And Laura Gillen, taking on Rep. Anthony D�Esposito (R-
N.Y.) on Long Island, declined to defend Biden in an interview with
POLITICO last week, pivoting to the importance of Democrats keeping the
House, even if Trump wins.The top of the ticket is just one factor for
House candidates, but some fear that in a close race, it could be the
deciding one.

Four years ago, Biden was a desired nominee in part because of his vast
appeal to wide swaths of voters, from suburban women in the Midwest to
Black voters in the South. But now, he has suddenly become radioactive.

Democrats are spending a record amount of money in state legislative races
this cycle in an attempt to claw back power from the GOP � and there�s
some concern that Biden�s unpopularity could scramble those efforts.

That fear is prompting some state legislative candidates in battlegrounds
to distance themselves from Biden, pressing upon voters the idea that
state lawmakers stand to have a greater impact on their daily lives than
politicians in Washington.

�Do we wish that the polling was really clear at the very top of the
ticket, and Biden was 10 points ahead?�� said one Michigan state lawmaker
granted anonymity to speak candidly. �Of course, but there�s never a world
where we don�t run scared and work as if we don�t need every single last
vote.�

"Watson Herbusch>" <paid@x.com> wrote in message
news:v6st2o$s67$9@toxic.dizum.net...
> As President Joe Biden's support continues to crumble, his party is
> reckoning with the possibility of a punishing defeat in November - a
> potential GOP wave that would not only elect former President Donald Trump
> but also sweep away Democrats from power in Congress.

As it should, they should NEVER have allowed Biden or Kamala to run.. but
have, are, and will continue to be raging dumpster fires for the Democrats
as even their own supporters detest those idiots.