65% of Democratic voters support him giving up his nomination // Rep. Adam Schiff joins 19 lawmakers calling for him to decline // The president tests positive for Covid-19

David Brooks and Jim Cason

Correspondents.

The newspaper La Jornada
Thursday, July 18, 2024, p. 21

Milwaukee. Nearly two-thirds of Democratic voters and now 20 lawmakers from their party want Joe Biden to give up his presidential candidacy in the face of the growing threat of a crushing Republican victory in the November elections, not only in the dispute for the White House, but for the entire Legislative Branch.

In the face of this, the contrast in the images of both parties less than four months before the national election is increasingly marked. On the one hand, the Republican Party is celebrating its unity around its candidate, Donald Trump, who consolidated absolute control of his kingdom at the Republican convention in this city, confident that they will not only win the elections, but possibly sweep. On the other hand, there is a fragmented Democratic Party in the midst of a crisis of confidence in its visually weakened presidential candidate.

Yesterday, Democratic U.S. congressman and now national-profile Senate candidate Adam Schiff of California joined the list of 19 federal lawmakers who have publicly declared themselves in favor of Biden’s withdrawal as a candidate. It is time for him to pass the torch and thereby secure the legacy of his leadership by allowing us to defeat Donald Trump in the upcoming elections.he declared.

Privately, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries expressed concern to President Biden last week that his nomination could deprive them of the ability to win majorities in both chambers of Congress, the paper reported. Washington Post this Wednesday.

Other Democrats are seeking to expedite Biden’s formal nomination even before their national convention in mid-August through a virtual process. Traditionally, that procedure would take place at the convention scheduled for August 19-22 in Chicago, but because of internal rules and other pretexts — though all indications are that Biden’s team and his allies want to force unity around the nominee as soon as possible — the party could nominate him two weeks earlier. But even this process has been interrupted by internal disputes and it is not clear how they will proceed.

Not only is this a dispute within the Democratic Party leadership, but even more worryingly, its base and supporters continue to have doubts about Biden. Sixty-five percent of Democrats say Biden should step down to allow the party to select another candidate, according to a new AP/NORC poll. Seventy percent of adults in this country share that view.

However, it is worth noting that 57 percent of adults also believe Trump should drop out – but unlike Democrats, a large majority of Republicans – 73 percent – ​​support him.

To top it all off, the White House reported on Wednesday that President Biden tested positive for Covid-19.