The "drip, drip, drip" seems to be turning into a stream, at least for now. The first sitting Democratic member of Congress came out last night and called for Joe Biden to drop out of the presidential race. Congressman Lloyd Doggett of Texas was quick to praise Biden's record of service but admitted that too many voters have "indicated their dissatisfaction" with Biden as the nominee, raising the prospect of Donald Trump winning another term in the White House as a consequence. Doggett echoed many pundits when he cited Lyndon Johnson's decision to withdraw from the 1968 election amid public aversion to the war in Vietnam. Of course, that didn't wind up making much of a difference because Hubert Humphrey took his place and Richard Nixon still beat him in a landslide. However, even if this turns out to be the wakeup call that Biden needed, the Democrats are running out of time to find another path forward.

Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) became the first sitting House Democrat to go public Tuesday with a call for President Biden to step aside as the presumptive party nominee in the aftermath of last week’s debate.

Doggett, 77, lauded Biden’s track record as commander-in-chief but stressed that “many Americans have indicated dissatisfaction with their choices in this election” and implied that keeping the president on the ticket raises the chances of Donald Trump winning a second term.

“I represent the heart of a congressional district once represented by Lyndon Johnson. Under very different circumstances, he made the painful decision to withdraw. President Biden should do the same,” Doggett said.

As with many others, Doggett cited last week's debate as the driving factor in his decision. He said that he had hoped the debate would "provide some momentum" for Biden. He concluded by simply saying, "It did not." That's clearly an understatement, but we should give Doggett some credit for being brutally honest if nothing else. Texas does not appear to be in play in terms of the presidential race, but neither does Doggett's district. He probably doesn't have much to lose, so he can afford to be the first one to step forward in this fashion.

Will his example spur other Democrats to do the same? It appears that the train is already in motion. The NY Post is reporting that as many as 25 more Democrats are in the process of pulling their support of Biden as the party's nominee.

At least 25 House Democrats are preparing to call for the 81-year-president to end his re-election bid in the wake of his disastrous debate against former President Donald Trump, Reuters reported Tuesday, citing a House Democratic aide.

Centrist House Democrats in competitive districts – the lawmakers most at risk of losing their seats in November – were so alarmed by Biden’s infirmed appearance in last week’s showdown with the 78-year-old presumptive Republican nominee that they are considering writing a letter to Biden, according to the outlet. 

From the sound of it, these are not Democrats who are worried about the future of the county as much as they're worried about their own jobs. These are reportedly Democrats in marginal districts who are concerned about the down-ballot effects of a presidential candidate who appears to be sliding in the wrong direction. If Joe Biden runs and winds up going down to Trump, he could take a lot of those House seats with him.

The problem for these Democrats is that we are already into the month of July. If Joe Biden refuses to step aside and release his delegates, there is little they can do without losing all of the campaign cash that Biden has accumulated. Even if he does step aside, unless they go with Kamala Harris, they face the same campaign cash issue. The new candidate would be effectively starting from scratch with only a dozen or so weeks to go. And Harris is still polling worse than Biden, as difficult as that may be to believe. I would suggest that Lloyd Doggett volunteer to take Biden's place on the ticket, but how many people outside of Texas have even heard of him? I know I had to go look up his bio this morning and I do this for a living.