It’s a state that Biden must win in November. Every strategist on both ends of the political spectrum knows that if Biden loses Michigan, that’s the ballgame, and Drool McCool will be shipped off to the retirement home. Last Thursday night, the president’s awful debate set off a days-long Democratic Party meltdown that hasn’t subsided. The chatter of replacing Biden on the ticket is beyond pervasive, with Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s name being floated in the mix. She is reportedly doing her best to put out fires for Biden while warning his campaign about how he’s doing in her state.
Whitmer isn’t pleased that other Democrats are using her as an example for a better alternative for the Democratic ticket. She also reportedly called Biden’s campaign chair, Jennifer O’Malley Dillon, telling her that after last week, Michigan is “unwinnable” for the president. Now, she also likely has presidential ambitions, but being viewed as undercutting the current leader of the Democratic Party could also have ramifications down the road. So, there are ulterior motives (via Politico):
Michigan Gov. Whitmer reportedly told Biden camp her state is no longer winnable. pic.twitter.com/E4tgEk7ggP
— Eddie Scarry (@eScarry) July 1, 2024
When Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer telephoned a senior official with President Biden’s campaign on Friday night, she wanted to convey a clear message: She hated the way her name was being floated as a replacement for Biden and she wasn’t behind the chatter.
Whitmer’s conversation with the official, campaign chair Jennifer O’Malley Dillon, was cordial but awkward by its very nature. In the aftermath of the president’s disastrous debate performance last Thursday, no would-be replacement has been the recipient of more wish-casting among despairing Democrats than the second-term Michigan governor.
Whitmer, recognizing as much, disavowed the Draft Gretch chatter. She used the call to reiterate her commitment and willingness to help the president but also voiced her concern about how much more difficult the campaign would be now for Biden, I’m told by a person familiar with the call.
Even more revealing is how word of the call reached me: from someone close to a potential 2028 Whitmer rival for the Democratic presidential nomination. This person said Whitmer had phoned O’Malley Dillon with more of an unambiguous SOS: to relay that Michigan, in the wake of the debate, was no longer winnable for Biden.
Oh yes, palace intrigue at its finest: a potential Whitmer rival leaked that she made this call to O’Malley. Regardless, Biden was trailing Trump by four-to-five points before the debate. Independent voters were already sour on him, a voter group the campaign should have focused on instead of appeasing the antisemitic and pro-Hamas Muslim communities that dot the state.
It's one thing to get back up when you’re knocked down, but the Biden team has unleashed a flurry of nonsensical and, frankly, insulting talking points trying to spin the president’s atrocious debate as a minor hiccup. Better yet, blaming Biden’s poor performance on his stutter, a cold, and a host of other things that tries to paint over the man’s glaring mental decline. Everyone saw what the problem was last Thursday night.
It might be that this is who Biden is, and has always been for since 2021, but the Left’s inability to accept humility or being humbled got them into this mess.
They tried to say Biden was fine. They were wrong.
If Michigan is taking off the table on election night, Trump wins. It’s that simple. Whitmer allegedly relaying this in before Independence Day should add to the Democrats’ five-alarm fire.