As Democrats in California and across the country scramble to decide if they want President Joe Biden to remain in the race, a concerned U.S. Rep. Mike Levin of San Juan Capistrano had two options: Speak out, or hold back.
Both were the wrong choice in the eyes of the Republicans seeking to unseat him in November in one of California’s swingiest districts.
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When Levin initially held his tongue on Biden’s future after a disastrous June 27 debate performance, the National Republican Congressional Committee blasted his “deafening” silence. And when Levin publicly called for Biden to drop out — the only California Democrat from a battleground district to do so yet — his GOP opponent Matt Gunderson deemed it a “sudden” tactic to distance himself from Biden.
Tying Democrats to an increasingly unpopular president who now faces backlash within his own party, Republicans have seized onto the Democratic splinters over Biden as an opportunity to attack their opponents in key California congressional districts, where election outcomes hinge largely on voter turnout and could help decide which party controls the U.S. House, as they did for the GOP in 2022.
The pressure on swing district Democrats is only intensifying as a growing coalition of Democrats — many of whom are from California — are calling for Biden’s exit, not only worried that he can’t win in November, but that he will drag down House and Senate candidates with him.
On Wednesday, Rep. Adam Schiff of Burbank, who is running for the U.S. Senate, urged Biden to “pass the torch” and step aside. His public declaration followed a warning to donors at a Saturday fundraiser that Biden could cost Democrats both the Senate and the House, the New York Times reported.
“A second Trump presidency will undermine the very foundation of our democracy, and I have serious concerns about whether the president can defeat Donald Trump in November,” Schiff told the Los Angeles Times.
Others are working behind the scenes. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco has reportedly conducted private calls with House Democrats and talked with the president to nudge Biden out of the race. Democratic leaders Rep. Hakeem Jeffries and Sen. Chuck Schumer also told Biden that his candidacy would jeopardize Democrats’ numbers in Congress. And as some Biden loyalists tried to fast-track the confirmation of the president as the party nominee, a group of House Democrats drafted a letter — circulated by Rep. Jared Huffman of San Rafael — to oppose that plan.
In nine key congressional districts in California, most Democratic candidates have remained silent on what they believe Biden should do. The campaigns of Adam Gray (Merced), Rudy Salas (Bakersfield), Josh Harder (Tracy), Derek Tran (Garden Grove), Joe Kerr (Coto de Caza), George Whitesides (Santa Clarita), Will Rollins (Palm Springs) and Dave Min (Irvine) did not return CalMatters’ inquiry for comment this week.
Awwww poor babies.
They have been hammering a free and open society and in the process sent the nation into an inflation spiral and abandoned the nation to drug cartels and politically correct SS director that is incompetent.
And that is the least of it.
Democrats in Calif. know if rational thought and the voters wake up their criminal control over the State Gov. is over. It also means there is a strong possibility that Sac. coverups and pay for play Slick could wind up in criminal court and jail time.
They have lost their nerve, are sweating as the real citizens and middle class are rebelling.
If you vote Dem you really are questionable as to your honesty.