WASHINGTON — A contingent of Democrats in the House of Representatives is reluctant to nominate a president quickly Joe Biden as the party’s nominee for re-election, and distributed a letter on Tuesday expressing “serious concerns” about plans for a virtual ballot as early as July 21, ahead of the Democratic National Convention in August.
The letter to the Democratic National Committeewho has not yet been sent, says it would be a “terrible idea” to stifle debate over the party’s candidate with early voting.
“It could seriously undermine the morale and unity of Democrats,” the letter, obtained by the AP, said.
If Biden continues with a robust campaign schedule in the Nevada battleground, certain to “get this job done” and win a second term in the White House, unease about his candidacy remains after his faltering debate performance against Republicans. Donald Trump.
Nearly two dozen Democrats in Congress have called for Biden to withdraw from the race, though public calls for him to step aside have died down since the assassination attempt on Donald Trump last weekend. Privately, the intraparty debate over Biden’s future is far from over.
Democrats on Capitol Hill are deeply divided over whether the president can continue his campaign and be re-elected. A constituency that should have strong support for the incumbent fears losing not only the White House to Trump, but also control of Congress to the Republicans.
The party announced in May that it would hold an early call to ensure Biden qualified to run in Ohio. The deadline for that was originally Aug. 7, but the state has since changed its rules, making the issue irrelevant, the letter said.
Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., who asked Biden pointed questions during a phone call with progressive lawmakers over the weekend and is the head of the Democratic Party task force to oppose the conservative Project2025 agenda, is one of the issues that is of concern.
Huffman had asked the president during the private call on Saturday whether he would consider meeting with former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, and congressional leaders former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, to discuss the feasibility of the campaign.
Biden “didn’t agree” that they were on a losing streak, Huffman said in a social media post afterward. And while Biden said he was “willing to listen” to other voices, Huffman said he doubted those voices would be persuasive.
“I continue to believe that a major change of course is needed, and that the president and his team have not yet fully acknowledged the problem, let alone corrected it,” he said.
According to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified to discuss the situation, it was a tense conversation.
Huffman is not taking the lead in distributing the letter, saying the lawmakers who signed the letter — who are not named — represent “the spectrum of views” on the situation.
“Some of us have called on President Biden to step aside, others have urged him to stay in the race, and still others have grave concerns about the status of the president’s campaign but have not yet taken a position on what should happen,” the report said.
The DNC says no formal date has been set for the virtual roll call, but its rulemaking committee is expected to meet Friday and could set a date or simply vote to formally authorize virtual activities. Virtual activities cannot begin, at least not until after Sunday, when the DNC’s convention committee meets.
A person familiar with the planning said he was told virtual actions would last several days, beginning the week of July 22 and possibly ending on July 29. The person was granted anonymity to discuss the private schedule. Others, however, have suggested virtual proceedings might not begin until the following week.
Biden’s reelection campaign has said only that the call for the election must be completed by Aug. 6 to meet the original deadline for Ohio’s vote.
In a statement on Tuesday, DNC Chair Jaime Harrison said “the suggestion that the timeline for the virtual roll call has been accelerated is incorrect.”
“The timeline for the virtual roll call process remains on track and has not changed since the DNC made that decision in May,” Harrison said.
Biden’s deputy campaign manager, Quentin Fulks, said at a news conference Tuesday in Milwaukee, where the Republican National Convention is being held, that the virtual call was still necessary even though Ohio had changed the deadline. Lawmakers in the state’s Republican-controlled legislature could still choose to go back and change the date again, denying Biden access to the ballot.
“It is our duty as a campaign to make sure President Biden is on the ballot,” Fulks said.
In response, the Ohio Secretary of State’s office said “the issue has been resolved.”
“Democratic cronies know this and must stop trying to blame Ohio for their own party’s dysfunction,” the office said in a statement.
___
Associated Press writers Josh Boak and Zeke Miller contributed to this report.