Joe Biden was never meant to run again, which is why Democratic Party donors are freaking out. His presidency was meant to serve as on-the-job training for Kamala Harris. His announcement to run again upset that consensus among the Democratic fundraising brass, which is why they’re panicking. He also said that if Biden remains firm in his commitment to remaining in this race, he will stay on the ticket despite the march toward civil war between governors, members of Congress, and megadonors.
Ever since Biden’s atrocious June 27 debate with Trump, there’s been a deluge of stories about the misery that’s engulfed the Democrats: the speaking out of both sides of one’s mouth, the megadonor revolt, the blaming of staffers for the president’s debate performance, and the Biden campaign’s apparent disturbing denialism about the whole situation. That alone is enough to send Democrats into a tailspin. Don Peebles, an Obama fundraiser, outlined this new theory about Biden reneging on being a one-term president with Fox News’ Will Cain this weekend:
“The expectation for most of the Democratic fundraising community was that President Biden was going to do one term and move on...and now they're panicking."
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) July 6, 2024
Fmr Obama fundraiser adds that the plan was for Kamala “to learn to be President."
None of that quite went according to… pic.twitter.com/X4jp0ZPeYc
Don Peebles: "The expectation for most of the Democratic fundraising community was the president Biden was going to do one term and move on. And, and Harris was going to learn to be president. And, and that is why he got support from a broad spectrum of Democratic fundraisers and Democratic leaders."
Will Cain: "Wow. So there was already a little bit of discontent with the idea that he's going to run again. He's going to move on. And now we see his actual capability, his his mental capacity. What do you think? You you raise funds. He he's pointing to fundraising, by the way. But we also hear stories about donors who are starting to join the chorus along with congressmen, maybe a few senators. Certainly the media who are backing away from Joe Biden. What do you think will be the move here? Do you think Joe Biden can kind of withstand this snowball of opposition within his own party?"
Peebles: "Well, he's prepared for it because he entered every Democratic primary and has locked up the delegates. So it's his decision and his decision alone. And on his broadcast of the interview with Stephanopoulos yesterday, he indicated it would take God to come down and get him out of the race.
So if he continues to have that approach and have that attitude, he will be the Democratic nominee. I do not think most people expected him to run for a second term. And, and now they're panicking."
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Biden was reportedly forced to pick Kamala. He might have been stuck to the one-term agreement if he could pick his running mate. Yet, we’re talking about Biden’s mental decline being a disqualifying factor—Harris has just as many cringe-worthy moments, from a puerile analysis of Ukraine to suggesting that rural Americans can’t make photocopies, the vice president is also a trainwreck, with enough personal baggage to fill a Boeing 747. Her staff and working environment drama also plagued her 2020 run. That and the fact that I don’t think she’s smart: Tom Steyer’s 2020 run, a man with zero chance of winning the nomination, lasted longer than hers.
Whatever the case, it adds a new layer of drama to the Democratic Party freakout that continues to rage post-debate.
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