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North Bay leader talks about President Bidens future in race amid calls to drop out
An Associated Press poll out this week shows nearly two-thirds of Americans have lost confidence in Biden’s mental ability to serve effectively.
FAIRFIELD, Calif. - Will he or won’t he stay in the race?
That’s the question many Americans are asking after President Joe Biden’s recent debate performance which he calls "a bad episode."
"If, all of a sudden, I show up to the democratic convention and someone says they want someone else, that's the democratic process," Biden said in a rare press conference on July 11, "It's not going to happen."
KTVU political analyst Brian Sobel believes it’s inevitable that Biden will drop out.
"The dems, they have a big problem," Sobel said. "Their standard-bearer is not in a position, it appears, to be able to carry out a vigorous campaign."
An Associated Press poll out this week shows nearly two-thirds of Americans have lost confidence in Biden’s mental ability to serve effectively, but Bay Area Congressional representative John Garamendi, who represents the eighth congressional district, stands with Biden and believes he can still beat Donald Trump in November.
"Even though President Biden seems to be physically weaker, he’s much more attuned to the needs of this nation and this world," Garamendi told KTVU on Friday.
According to the AP, top democrats, including former president Barack Obama and Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco are pushing Biden to end his bid for re-election over concerns of democrats losing the house if he stays in the race.
"We’ve got a terrifically experienced quarterback for the political game that’s going to be played in the next 100 days or so, and we have a terrific backup," said Garamendi, who believes if Biden drops out and Vice President Kamala Harris replaces him, she would still have enough time to win over voters before election day.
"I believe it will be Biden, but if it’s not, we’re going to coalesce very, very quickly around the alternative which is most likely to be Harris and that’s great, as far as I’m concerned."
New polling by the Associated Press shows six in 10 democrats feel Harris would make a good president, and then there’s the question of who would join her on the ticket.
"Well, I don’t think we can ignore the fact that Governor Gavin Newsom has been running around the country acting as a spokesperson for the president," said Sobel.
In a joint statement with three colleagues, North Bay Representative Jared Huffman wrote to the President, telling him in part, "it is now time for you to pass the torch to a new generation."
"Politics is a funny business and almost anything could happen," Sobel said.
It remains to be seen if Biden would endorse Harris or any other possible replacement on the party’s ticket, if he does step down.
The last time a sitting president decided not to run was LBJ in 1968 during his plummeting popularity amid the Vietnam War.
Biden has 3,896 delegates, compared to Trump’s 2,268.
If Biden steps down, Sobel said he would be able to release his delegates to the democratic nominee, and lawyers would be looking at what happens with the campaign money.
The Democratic National Convention starts August 19 in Chicago.