Democrat politicians are incensed at calls for Joe Biden alternative – “People should shut the hell up,” Democratic Pennsylvania Representative Brendan Boyle said on CNN recently, speaking to the voices clamoring for an alternative to President Joe Biden on the ballot next year.
The news outlet reports that many of Joe Biden’s top political strategists are still confident – despite their candidates’ dismal showing in the polls – that the president is still the best choice to be the party’s front-runner next year.
However, these same people also acknowledge that Biden has a tough fight ahead of him – in what is more and more looking to be another presidential showdown with his predecessor, former president Donald Trump.
While Democrats are all in agreement that the party needs to win the elections next year, if ever Biden does so, it will be on narrow margins.
Some top Democrats, like Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota, have put the blame – at least partly – on Republicans, who only until recently have been squabbling amongst themselves over the House speakership – for the “nervousness” many in the party have felt, leading them to float alternatives to a Joe Biden-Harris ticket next year, even though the party having no intention of replacing either president Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris as his running mate.
“In uncertain times — globally, on the economy — when you see the former president, with all of the crises, with a House that’s so dysfunctional, I think people naturally have a little bit of nervousness,” Walz said. A few days after Walz made that statement, fellow Minnesotan and Representative Dean Phillips launched a campaign to challenge Biden in the Democratic primaries next year.
As for Vice President Harris, there is some speculation that she might be an emergency alternative to Biden – the health risks inherent to someone of Biden’s advanced age are undeniable, after all – but she has staunchly supported the president throughout. And despite saying that she is ready to take up the role of president should the situation arise, “Joe Biden is going to be fine,” she emphatically tells all who are willing to listen.
Joe Biden’s approval dips even deeper
Democratic politicians may voice their support of Biden all they want, but it simply comes off as tone-deaf in the face of what public sentiment indicates.
A new poll from Gallup shows the president’s approval rating among Democratic voters falling by 11 percentage points to 75% in just the span of one month, from 86%. Among the general voter pool, his approval rating is 37%, also down from the already poor 41% he scored the month before.
Many point to the president’s “rock solid and unwavering” support for Israel as the reason for the dip in approval ratings. The Biden administration has repeatedly voiced support for Israel in its ongoing war with the jihadist Palestinian Hamas militants, who launched a horrific attack on the Jewish state on October 7, killing more than 1,500 civilians. Israel is currently preparing for a full-scale attack on Gaza as retaliation, with the goal of permanently eradicating Hamas’ military capabilities. The Gaza Health Ministry claims that more than 7,000 people have died as a result of Israel’s retaliation (a number doubted by the president and U.S. intelligence).
But even before the Israel-Hamas war broke out, Democrats already wanted Biden to retire. As one top Democratic strategist told the New York Times, “The voters don’t want this, and that’s in poll after poll after poll.” Many Democratic voters have expressed concern over Biden’s age and his capability to work in the Oval Office for another four years – should he win – despite him being already 82 when he starts a second term.
Even now, Joe Biden is already the oldest president to hold office. Supporters in the party act dismissively about that issue, too.
While it ultimately remains to be seen if the Democrats will listen to the people they claim to represent, it seems likely that just like in years past, the party will look out for the thing it looks out for the best – itself.
Tim Ramos has written for various publications, corporations, and organizations – covering everything from finance, politics, travel, entertainment, and sports – in Asia and the U.S. for more than 10 years.
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