By Thomas Manning
A growing number of prominent Democrats are calling on President Joe Biden to drop out of the 2024 race amid an ongoing slump in the polls and crises at home and abroad.
David Axelrod, the political consultant and strategist who helped launch President Biden onto the national stage in 2008, has called for him to step aside following the release of devastating polls over the weekend by the New York Times and Siena College.
The polls showed President Biden down in several key swing states and only leading in Wisconsin by a slim two percentage point lead over 2020 rival and potential 2024 challenger, former President Donald Trump.
“What he needs to decide is that is wise, whether it’s in his best interest or the country’s,” Axelrod wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter in early November.
The call for President Biden to step down came as the New York Times showed devastating news for his political future in that he will most likely lose to Donald Trump or several of the leading challengers to him next year if he decides to run.
The polling data released showed that President Biden was trailing President Trump in Georgia by 6 percentage points, in Pennsylvania by 4 points, in Michigan by 5 points, Nevada by 11, and Arizona by 6.
Combined with the bad battleground polls, President Biden currently sits at a 37 percent approval rating in the polls, worse than President Trump had in his bid for re-election, and many compare his situation to President Jimmy Carter in the 1970s.
“It’s very late to change horses,” Mr. Axelrod continued. “A lot will happen in the next year that no one can predict, and Biden’s team [says] his resolve to run is firm.”
Several other politicians and political figures have also called for President Biden to drop out of the race.
Former Democrat presidential candidate, Andrew Yang, posted on X and said: “If Joe Biden were to step aside he would go down in history as an accomplished statesman who beat Trump and achieved a great deal. If he decides to run again it may go down as one of the great over-reaches of all time that delivers us to a disastrous Trump second term.”
Joe Biden’s presidency is being compared to Jimmy Carter’s presidency with a 37 percent approval rating along and several international issues caused by Iran in the Middle East, high inflation, high gas prices, and the threat of gas prices going even higher given the role Iran is playing in the Middle East with the strait of Hormuz playing a critical role in the production of oil in the world.
“I don’t think the president should run, former Ohio Congressman Tim Ryan (D) told CNN on Nov. 6. “I don’t think Trump should run, I don’t think President Biden should run.”
Mr. Ryan became the first politician from a battleground state to call for the current president to drop out of the race. President Trump won the state in the past two election cycles.
The spread in support for President Biden dropping out of the race also comes as he faces his first challenger from inside the Democrat party as Minnesota Congressman Dean Phillips recently announced he would be challenging him in the primary season.
Along with politicians and consultants calling for him to resign, there’s speculation that he’ll face a growing list of challengers from inside his own party, including California’s Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Recent trips have made it seem as if the governor is running for president already, or planning to run.
The governor recently made an unannounced visit to Chinese leader Xi Jinping regarding climate change and green energy.
Mr. Newsom also recently visited Israel.
Candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. started his campaign for president as a Democrat but switched over to be an Independent citing unfair treatment from the Democrat Party.
However, despite all the talk of bad polling numbers, the White House gained momentum on Nov. 7 when Democrats won several elections including flipping the House in Virginia from Republican to Democrat, winning reelection in the Kentucky governor’s race.
In addition, winning several ballot measure issues in Ohio—including one enshrining abortion into the state constitution—and also legalizing marijuana for recreational use.
