Another plan by President Joe Biden to regain his footing in the presidential campaign could be backfiring badly.
In a power move Monday, Biden published a letter to Democratic lawmakers demanding an end to the backbiting that has plagued his campaign since his disastrous debate with former President Donald Trump.
But it’s being blasted by even those on the American left — the kind of voters Biden will need on his side in November.
This morning, I sent a letter to my fellow Democrats on Capitol Hill. In it, I shared my thoughts about this moment in our campaign.
It’s time to come together, move forward as a unified party, and defeat Donald Trump. pic.twitter.com/ABtAaJrr0n
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) July 8, 2024
In the letter, Biden declared that Democrats have “one job. And that is to beat Donald Trump.”
“The question of how to move forward has been well-aired for over a week now,” Biden wrote. “And it’s time for it to end.”
There’s no doubt about that. But the question is whether Democrats are going to move forward with Biden — the obviously aging putative party leader whose dismal debate performance seems to have woken up many liberals to the fact they have an imbecile in the White House.
Aaron Rugenberg, a leftist Democrat from the Bernie Sanders wing of the party, blasted the letter as “breathtakingly cynical and dishonest,” particularly Biden’s claims to have won the nomination in a process that was “open to anyone who wanted to run.”
This from Biden’s letter to Congressional Dems is so breathtakingly cynical and dishonest.
They blocked anyone of substance from running and refused to debate. Does anyone honestly think that if we’d seen that debate performance last fall Biden would have won a single primary? pic.twitter.com/uZJbRC52VO
— Aaron Regunberg (@AaronRegunberg) July 8, 2024
And he had plenty of support from commenters who, judging by their social media profiles, are just as leftist as any Bernie Sanders brother. Here are a couple of examples:
Sorry Joe
Things are very different since then. Under pressure u folded, age related or not, it’s time for the reliever to step in— MABUS the Medic (@MABUS6055591818) July 8, 2024
He clearly feels no “obligation to the faith or trust of the voters,” who overwhelmingly don’t want him to run.
— Ashley (@sassyashieOG) July 8, 2024
And then there was this one:
Napoleon insisted before the battle of Waterloo: “I tell you Wellington is a bad general, the English are bad troops, and this affair is nothing more than eating breakfast.” Biden’s insistence that he can take down Alley Cat Don has a very similar feel.
— StuffMatters (@GBops67) July 8, 2024
“Napoleon insisted before the battle of Waterloo: ‘I tell you Wellington is a bad general, the English are bad troops, and this affair is nothing more than eating breakfast.’ Biden’s insistence that he can take down Alley Cat Don has a very similar feel,” wrote the user.
Now, if a guy whose X profile includes the words “I loathe DJT” is likening Biden to Napoleon before Waterloo, it’s a good chance that the Democratic pros in D.C. are going to be able to see the obvious, too.
They should be on Biden’s side — but that’s more than shaky now.
And that means this letter could have exactly the opposite effect Team Biden is looking for — just like the first debate had exactly the opposite effect Biden wanted.
Remember, it was Biden’s team that sought out the debate. It was Biden’s rules. And in the heart of CNN’s headquarters, it was on Biden’s home field.
It was supposed to reverse the trajectory of the race that had Biden trailing Trump in swing states that could spell doom for Democrats in November.
Thanks to Biden’s performance — variously blamed on jet lag, a “cold” or whatever the excuse of the moment is — it ended up not only making Biden’s polling worse, it opened up the very real possibility that Democrats would try to get him to step aside to avoid a slaughter come Nov. 5.
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Now, he’s released a tough-guy letter, basically daring his party to unseat him, and preemptively placing blame for defeat in November on any Democrat who tries.
“We have 42 days to the Democratic Convention and 119 to the general election,” Biden wrote. “Any weakening of resolve or lack of clarity about the task ahead only helps Trump and hurts us.
“It is time to come together, move forward as a unified party, and defeat Donald Trump.”
Those are fine marching orders, but orders are useless when no one obeys them. Democratic lawmakers gathering on Capitol Hill after the July Fourth break are going to be confronting the stark reality that the Joe Biden who has been unveiled since the June 27 debate is the Joe Biden Americans see now.
It’s the Joe Biden who can’t complete a thought, the Joe Biden who needs to rig radio interviews with friendly hosts, the Joe Biden who can’t even get through an interview with Democratic operative George Stephanopoulos without making an fool of himself.
And it’s that Joe Biden that carries their party’s political future — along with their own political futures.
Biden — or whoever actually wrote this letter — is picking a fight with his party on Capitol Hill and, by extension, the hugely diverse base it represents, much of which can’t stand him but voted by the millions for him to defeat Donald Trump.
The far left has already turned on Biden with its protest votes in the primary. It’s turning on him again in reaction to this letter.
The conversation Biden is starting with this letter in his party’s power structure in D.C. might not turn out the way he thinks.
Just like the debate.
