Biden’s ability to win back skeptical Democrats tested at a perilous moment for his campaign

WASHINGTON — Despite a week of campaign stops, interviews and dogged persistence, he is the best candidate to confront Republicans Donald TrumpChair Joe Bidens Efforts to revive his re-election bid and win over skeptical Democrats have done little to ease the pressure on him to leave the party. contest 2024.

Biden has important options before him this weekend that could shape the direction of the country and his party as the country heads toward the November elections with a energetic GOP after the Republican nominating convention to return Trump to the White House.

Nearly 35 Democrats in Congress say it’s time for Biden to step aside — 12 come forward on Friday alone — with more lawmakers expected to weigh in in the coming days. Donors have voiced concerns. And an organization called Pass the Torch, Biden is planning a rally at the White House on Saturday.

“There’s no joy in recognizing that he shouldn’t be our nominee in November,” said Democratic Rep. Morgan McGarvey of Kentucky, one of the Democrats who pushed him out of the race. “But the stakes of this election are too high, and we can’t risk the focus of the campaign being on anything other than Donald Trump.”

The stalemate has become increasingly untenable for the party and its leaders, a month after the Democratic National Convention that should be a unifying moment to nominate their sitting president to confront Trump. Instead, the party is at a crossroads not seen in generations.

It creates a stark contrast with Republicans who, after years of bitter and chaotic infighting over Trump, have effectively embraced the former president’s far-right takeover of the GOP, despite his criminal conviction in the hush money case and pending federal criminal charges for trying to overturn the 2020 election before the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

From his beach house in Delaware, Biden, 81, is in isolation with a COVID infection but also politically isolated with a small circle of family and closest advisers. White House physician Kevin O’Connor said Friday that the president still had a dry cough and hoarseness but that his COVID symptoms had improved.

The president’s team insisted he is ready to return to the campaign trail next week to push back against what he called a “dark vision” Trump has laid out.

“Together, as a party and as a country, we can and will defeat him at the ballot box,” Biden said in a statement Friday. “The stakes are high and the choice is clear. Together, we will win.”

But outside the enclave of Rehoboth, debate and emotions are running high.

A donor meeting with about 300 people Friday was described by one attendee as a waste of time. He was granted anonymity to discuss the private meeting. Although the person praised Vice President Kamala Harris, who spoke for five minutes, the rest of the time was filled by others who brushed aside the donors’ concerns, the attendee said.

Not only do Democrats disagree over whether Biden should stay in the race or step down, there is also no consensus on how to choose a successor.

Democrats who favor Biden’s departure don’t appear to have laid out a plan for what happens next. Very few lawmakers have mentioned Harris in their statements, and some have said they favor an open nomination process that would throw party support behind a new nominee.

Democratic Senators Jon Tester of Montana and Peter Welch of Vermont have both called for Biden to withdraw from the race and said they support an open nominating process at the convention.

“If it were open, it would make the eventual nominee stronger,” Welch said in an interview with The Associated Press.

Other Democrats say it would be politically unthinkable to ignore Harris, the nation’s first female vice president, who is Black and Southeast Asian. It’s also logistically unfeasible, with a virtual nomination vote scheduled for early next month, ahead of the Democratic convention on Aug. 19 in Chicago.

Rep. Betty McCollum of Minnesota, who has been among those calling on Biden to resign, explicitly backed Harris as a replacement.

“To provide Democrats with a strong, viable path to winning the White House, I am calling on President Biden to release his representatives and empower Vice President Harris to step forward and become the Democratic nominee for president,” McCollum said in her statement.

It’s unclear what more the president can do to turn the tide and win back lawmakers and Democratic voters who are wary of his ability to unseat Trump and serve another term after his faltering debate performances last month.

Nearly two-thirds of Democrats say Biden should withdraw from the presidential race and let his party nominate another candidate, a new report says. AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research surveyundermining his post-debate claim that “average Democrats” still support him, even as some “big names” turn against him.

At the same time, a majority of Democrats believe Kamala Harris would do well in the top position, according to a separate AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey.

Biden, who sent a defiant letter to congressional Democrats immediately after his debate performance vowing to stay in the race, has yet to visit Capitol Hill in person to drum up support. Senators and representatives have not noticed.

The president has held a series of virtual talks with various factions over the past week, some of which ended badly.

During a call with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, a Democrat, Rep. Mike Levin of California, told Biden to step aside. During another call with the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Biden became defensive when Rep. Jared Huffman of California asked him to consider talking to top party leaders about the way forward.

Huffman was one of four Democratic lawmakers who called on Friday for Biden to end his re-election campaign.

At the same time, Biden still has strong supporters. He received an endorsement from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus campaign arm on Friday and has received support from leaders of the Black Faction Congress and the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

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Associated Press reporters Joey Cappelletti in East Lansing, Michigan, and Mary Clare Jalonick and Seung Min Kim in Washington contributed to this report.