Democrat Sen. Richard Blumenthal REFUSES to say whether Biden is party’s best presidential candidate

US Sen. Richard Blumenthal has refused to say whether he thinks Joe Biden is the best Democrat to make a bid for the White House in 2024.

The Connecticut lawmaker said he believes the midterms will determine Biden’s success over next two years and ‘how strong he would be as a candidate’ in 2024.

Blumenthal’s remarks came after the Senate voted 51-50 to advance the Democrats’ $740 billion climate change and healthcare spending bill.

The legislator stressed the need for Democrats to pass Biden’s goals, pointing to the  recent passage of the Inflation Reduction Act as ‘making tremendous progress.’

Meanwhile, 75 percent of Democratic and left-leaning voters say they want a different candidate on their ballot in the 2024 presidential election as the party continues to show their lack of confidence in Biden.

Blumenthal, appearing on CNN’s State of the Union Sunday alongside South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, said he ‘will support Biden’ if he runs again but refused to address if he was the best candidate for the job.

‘Do you think President Biden is the best candidate in 2024?’ moderator Dana Bash asked. Blumenthal diverted away from the question.

‘I’m gonna be very blunt and very honest with you. My focus is totally on this November because I am running for reelection,’ he said.

‘But also I think this November’s gonna determine how successful President Biden is in the next two years and how strong he would be as a candidate.’ 

Blumenthal did note, however, that he would support Biden if he does decide to run for re-election. 

‘I will support President Biden,’ he told Bash, who hit back: ‘Do you want him to run?’

‘If he decides he wants to run and I think his decision will be determined by how November ends for the Democratic Party and for senators like myself who are running for reelection,’ Blumenthal explained.

Blumenthal said he believes the midterms will determine Biden’s success over next two years and ‘how strong he would be as a candidate’ in 2024

He also noted it is important for Democratic senators to move forward with Biden’s agendas in the next two years on topics such as abortion, inflation and the possibility of expanding the Supreme Court.

‘We are making tremendous progress,’ Blumenthal added. ‘The Inflation Reduction Act is one example. Veterans burn pits legislation, which I helped to lead. Very important.’

The Senate passed the landmark Inflation Reduction Act aimed at slowing global warming, moderating pharmaceutical costs and taxing immense corporations on Saturday. 

The estimated $740 billion package heads next to the House, where lawmakers are poised to deliver on Biden’s priorities in a stunning turnaround for what had appeared to be doomed proposals. 

The legislation includes the largest-ever federal effort on climate change – close to $400 billion – caps out-of-pocket drug costs for seniors on Medicare to $2,000 a year and extends expiring subsidies that help 13 million people afford health insurance.

By raising corporate taxes, the whole package is paid for, with some $300 billion extra revenue for deficit reduction.

Non-partisan analysts have said the Inflation Reduction Act would have a minor effect on surging consumer prices.

Republicans said the new measure would undermine an economy that policymakers are struggling to keep from plummeting into recession.

They said the Bill’s business taxes would hurt job creation and force prices skyward, making it harder for people to cope with the nation’s worst inflation since the 1980s.

A new poll shows that a whopping 75% of Democratic and left-leaning voters want to see someone other than President Joe Biden run for president in 2024

Meanwhile, three-fourths of Democratic voters want a different candidate on their ballot in the 2024 presidential election, a poll released in late July revealed.

The 75 percent of Democratic and left-leaning voters who don’t want to see Biden run for another term is a 24 percent uptick from the same CNN poll taken earlier this year.

In January and February 2022, 51 percent of Democratic voters and those who lean that way said they would prefer a different candidate than Biden in the next election.

The new poll shows the remaining 25 percent want Biden as the nominee – a steep decline from the 45 percent who wanted that outcome just six months prior.

Twenty-four percent of those left leaning voters who were surveyed July 22-24 say they want someone else on the ballot because they don’t think Biden can win in 2024. The same poll at the start of this year showed 18 percent of voters felt this way.

Another 22 percent polled this month say they don’t want another Biden run because they simply do not want him to be reelected and serve a second term, up from the 16 percent who felt this way in the January/February poll.