If Robert Costa's reporting is correct, President Biden is using the term "revolt" to describe attempts to get him to leave the race.
You have to admit, the term fits. Not quite an "insurrection," but "revolt" among his party allies definitely describes what is happening. It is a coordinated campaign to remove him from the nomination, and in all likelihood the presidency itself if things keep going.
+ Biden and members of his inner circle believe both former Speaker Pelosi and former President Obama are privately underestimating his political appeal and the strength of his coalition, especially against Trump, and believe they and others are being too muted on Dem. dissent
— Robert Costa (@costareports) July 20, 2024
They aren't underestimating him. They are plotting and acting to destroy his ability to remain the nominee. Those are two different things. "Underestimating" him is thinking he is likely to lose while coordinating a campaign filled with leaks, and hoaxes (he has already decided to drop out and has a speech being written is one false claim) is a full-scale attack on his ability to run at all.
There is nothing similar about those two things, except that the latter probably stems from the former. But thinking and acting are fundamentally different.
+ A flurry of rumors about Biden allies thinking hard about a Biden exit has infuriated many of Biden's most trusted associates, especially talk that historian Jon Meacham was maybe being tapped to write/or mulling an exit speech, which he denied to CBS News.
— Robert Costa (@costareports) July 20, 2024
"Thinking hard" is thinking. Creating a steady "drip drip drip" of leaks, green-lighting insiders, outsiders, and donors calling for Biden to step out, and pushing out false stories is what they are doing. This is a campaign to get Biden out, complete with commercials funded by donors and pushed out on TV.
It’s time for Biden to #PassTheTorch and let us choose a new nominee. One who can bring new energy and make sure Trump is defeated in November.
— PassTheTorchJoe (@PassTheTorch24) July 19, 2024
This is our moment. We have the power to choose a different path. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.pic.twitter.com/Ba7mgbe6Ed
That isn't from the grassroots; that is from big, big players--likely Obama and Pelosi. You don't get Congressmen and Senators calling for Biden to drop out without a green light, and you don't get slick TV ads without big money.
That's just a reality. One or two calls for exits from backbenchers would be natural. Adam Schiff coming out for removal--a guy whose mentor is Nancy Pelosi and who will win in a walk no matter who is at the top of the ticket did it for the Party bigwigs, not himself.
The key dynamic is that while Biden and many of his confidants are LISTENING to people's concerns about his viability, they also DETEST this process. They view the listening as good-faith openness to feedback, not as some willingness to leave the race due to private Dem. doubts.
— Robert Costa (@costareports) July 20, 2024
If I were Biden, I, too, would be furious. On the other hand, if I were Biden, I would slink off in shame, so there is that...
Biden has never, ever cared about anybody but himself and his, and he doesn't want to go. Whether he thinks he will win or not is irrelevant at this point--he is looking out for Biden, Inc. And he is president, so he has some great power left in his hands. If he bows out now he will be a truly lame duck.
Note: The discussions – in the inner circle, among lawmakers, among donors, among party elites -- remain very fluid with the president's frustration the only constant. Truth of where things stand will be the president's own actions more than any particular nudge or shove.
— Robert Costa (@costareports) July 20, 2024
/end
I have no idea what Biden will do--as Costa says, it is up to him. But I think Ed is right and he will just weather the storm. The only thing that will move him is a VERY big check and guarantees for massive wealth for his family. That just might do it.
I still think there is an outside chance that the Party will go nuclear and threaten the 25th Amendment solution--leave or we will remove you. But that is unlike, fraught with even larger risks than what they face now, and difficult to execute without enormous and questionable cooperation from both the Cabinet and Congress.
There would be a political nuclear exchange--both Biden and his opponents would likely air a lot of dirty laundry about Democrat Party secrets nobody wants out there. That's what I mean by exchange--both sides have dirt on the other.
There is another wrinkle--the national security contingent is getting involved--sort of the 51 intelligence officers analog:
I wonder if there were 51 of them? https://t.co/YKeMQSpeFV
— David Strom (@DavidStrom) July 20, 2024
Only this time they are going AFTER Biden, not protecting him.
Yike, this is going to be fun to watch.
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