Polls show Democratic voters breaking with Biden as nominee

Insights from Politico, The New York Times, and BET News

The News

Nearly two-thirds of Democrats say US President Joe Biden should step aside and let the party nominate a different candidate to face Donald Trump in November, according to an Associated Press poll released Wednesday. Overall, 70% of those polled said Biden should bow out of the race. Among Democrats, the number was 65%, compared with 73% among Republicans.

Polling following the Trump assassination attempt has begun to trickle in, with several indicating that Biden is slipping slightly — though the election still remains statistically tied. Only about three in 10 Democrats are “extremely” or “very confident” that he has the mental capability to serve effectively as president, down from the 40% recorded in February.

SIGNALS

Schiff calls on Biden to step down, possibly jumpstarting wider effort

Rep. Adam Schiff, a high-ranking Democrat expected to become California’s next senator, called on Biden to step aside on Wednesday. Schiff, a close ally of former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, is the first Democratic lawmaker to make the call since Saturday night’s assassination attempt on Trump — and one of the highest-ranking Democrats to make it at all. The shooting led to a brief pause in the growing clamor for the president to bow out, but “the statement from Schiff, who is widely respected in the party, will likely be seen as political cover for more Democrats to come forward,” Politico reported.

Polls undercut Biden campaign’s claims

The latest polls have undercut the Biden campaign’s claims following his disastrous June 27th debate that “everyday Democrats” still stood with the president, The New York Times wrote. In early July, fewer than half of Democrats said Biden should bow out of the race, a number that clearly increased after the debate. The AP poll isn’t the first to show a majority of voters calling for Biden to step aside, but it does highlight that most of those in the president’s own party are calling for a different nominee.

Conditions under which Biden would drop out keep shifting

Biden said in an interview released Wednesday that he would re-evaluate his reelection bid if his doctor told him a medical condition “emerged” that made it necessary. That’s the “latest in a series of shifting explanations by the president about what might cause him to reconsider,” The New York Times wrote. Last month, Biden said he would only leave the race if the “Lord almighty” told him to, and days later said he wouldn’t bow out unless his aides showed him proof that he couldn’t win.