Panic is slowly spreading in the Democratic Party. On Saturday, Donald Trump slapped Nikki Haley in the boots in her own home state of South Carolina. He is rushing towards the Republican presidential nomination. Trump has so far also succeeded in training the legal proceedings against him so much that he will probably be able to stand for election in a fairly normal way in November. Against Joe Biden. Donald Trump celebrates his election victory in South Carolina with state senator Tim Scott and several others. Photo: AFP Powerful, but unpopular President Joe Biden won overwhelmingly when the Democrats had nomination elections in South Carolina on 7 February. But that was because he has no real opponents. Because no one dares to challenge the 81-year-old president who wants to run for re-election. The team around Biden focuses on the fact that Trump is a desired counter-candidate, and that a majority of voters say they do not want him as president again. Many also point to the fact that Biden’s presidency has been a success: the American economy is doing great. Inflation is on the way down, unemployment is below 4 percent. But it doesn’t show in Biden’s popularity polls. Only around 40 percent of the people think he is doing a good job. Is it because he is perceived as too old? Biden’s problem A number of signals are causing unrest among Democrats to increase now. Donald Trump leads over Biden in five of six states where the presidential election is likely to be decided, according to Real Clear Politics Young voters show little enthusiasm for Biden and it has gotten worse since the war in Gaza started on October 7. A large majority of Democratic voters say they want someone other than Biden as the Democrats’ presidential candidate. A number of Democratic congressional politicians in vulnerable districts indicate that they are reluctant to get help from Joe Biden in the election campaign in the fall. Joe Biden has held far more press conferences than his predecessors. He also declined an interview before the Superbowl. Photo: Reuters Important podcast Many Democrats do not dare to discuss these issues out loud. Because Biden will seek re-election, and he is a highly respected man with whom many sympathize. But over the past two weeks, a renowned podcast host and Biden fan has taken courage: New York Times columnist Ezra Klein has used the last three episodes of his popular podcast to explain why Democrats should find another and how it can still be possible to achieve. Klein likes Biden. But he believes it is becoming increasingly clear that the 81-year-old president no longer has the energy required to complete a presidential election campaign. Navnerot and Jon Stewart Biden’s press conference on October 7 showed this, Klein believes. And it has received a lot of attention. There, the president hit back at special investigator Robert Hur, who described him as a well-intentioned, elderly man with a poor memory. At the press conference, Biden criticized this characterization. But soon afterwards he said that the president of Egypt was the president of Mexico. That prompted Jon Stewart, the talk show host of The Daily Show, who has returned to his old satire program, to spend half an episode showing how weak he thinks Biden is. Talk show host Jon Stewart had a central role as a satirist while George W. Bush and Barack Obama were presidents. Now he is back. Photo: AFP Employees around the president constantly talk about how sharp he is in meetings and how well he follows along. – Maybe you should take some footage of it, because the rest of us don’t see it, Stewart said jokingly. He has had to endure criticism for his attacks. Presidential performance Many Democrats still point out that the love and respect for Biden is great in the party and probably among the voters. Moreover, he has always stuttered and therefore always struggled to find the right words, they argue But Ezra Klein believes that such arguments do not hold. – The presidency is a performance, he says in the podcast. The voters want to think that the president has the power and energy to solve the major crises for them. It is not sufficient to have only a well-financed election campaign and skilled employees. The disaster in 1968 But hasn’t the train left for the Democrats? Isn’t it too late to choose someone other than Biden now? It is complicated and historical, but possible, says Ezra Klein. In August, the party will have its national meeting in Chicago. Ironically, they held their party congress in the same city in 1968. At that time, the congress became a basket case because President Lyndon Johnson announced in March of the same year that he will not run for re-election after all. In 1968 there was unrest at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Outside there were demonstrations against the war in Vietnam, and at the same time the party had to rally around a candidate. Photo: Ap It was the delegates at the national meeting who had to nominate a candidate. They ended up electing Hubert Humphrey who lost to Republican Richard Nixon a few months later. But it is precisely a similar process that is the only solution for the Democrats now: 1. First, someone in Biden’s inner circle must urge him to resign. 2. Therefore, those who want to take over must run an election campaign and be nominated at the national meeting this summer. Ezra Klein spends an entire episode describing how this can take place in practice together with an expert on the national meeting process in the party. The Kamala Harris Problem Why can’t Vice President Kamala Harris take over, many ask. Should Biden have resigned, he may choose to point to Harris as his successor. But the vice-president is not doing very well in the polls and is not very popular in the party either. However, it could create discord if she, as the first black woman in such a role, were to be passed over. Kamala Harris met the President of Ukraine at the Munich Security Conference earlier this month. Biden is giving her more foreign policy tasks now. Photo: AFP Ezra Klein believes that the best thing is that everyone who wants to run competes at the national meeting in August, and that this will be an event that the whole world watches on TV and that gives the Democrats a real boost. Some candidates have already run a kind of “shadow campaign” even though they say they will not challenge Biden. Governor with shadow election campaign The most obvious of them is California Governor Gavin Newsom. But others mentioned are the governors of Michigan, Maryland and Pennsylvania: Gretchen Whitmer, Wes Moore and Josh Shapiro. California Governor Gavin Newsom (56) visiting the White House this week. Photo: AFP Younger alternatives are Pete Buttigieg, who is BIden’s transport minister, and the star of the left, Alexandria Ocasio Cortez. Skepticism and Trump trouble But many experts believe it is already too late. A lot is at stake, and Biden has a vice president who can take over if he were to step down, are the arguments. Also: Donald Trump won in South Carolina. But 40 percent there voted for Nikki Haley And the election day polls by the Associated Press show that one in five voters said they would not vote for Trump in November if he becomes the presidential candidate. The Democrats take that as a victory, together with the fact that they have won several by-elections in the last year and a half and that the abortion issue still seems to mobilize voters. That’s good news for Biden. But would it be even better news for the Democrats if they had another, younger presidential candidate? President Biden and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. There is a nomination election for both parties on 27 February Photo: AFP
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Is Biden too weak? – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
