Should Dems Dump Biden Amid Pathetic Polling? (Part 1)
Democrats must seriously consider president’s re-electability now!
There’s an old saying about campaigning for public office: A year is a lifetime in politics.
But will this adage ring true for President Biden, who is suffering from historically dismal national polling numbers for an incumbent president seeking reelection?
With about nine months remaining before Election Day, several troubling questions about Biden’s re-electability must be seriously addressed by the Democratic Party before it’s too late to choose a more formidable candidate to replace him.
Keep in mind that all presumptive presidential nominees are just that, presumptive until officially nominated by the states this summer at their respective party’s national conventions. So, nothing is “official” until that time.
The latest polling by NBC News shows Donald Trump leading Biden by a five-point margin.
That’s Trump’s biggest lead over Biden since head-to-head polling began.
This begs the question: Is there enough time for Biden to turn his pathetic poll numbers around or will he be the first Democrat one-term president since Jimmy Carter lost to Ronald Reagan in the 1980 election?
As if losing to Trump by his biggest margin yet isn’t enough, the polling results for Biden only get worse regarding leading public policy issues which voters care about most.
As NBC News notes: “Despite a growing economy and little opposition to his party’s nomination, President Joe Biden confronts a dissatisfied electorate.”
That’s why Biden’s supporters should recall an inconvenient truth: Just because he narrowly defeated Trump once is no guarantee he will do it again.
Anointing Presumed Victor
In politics — as in life — it can be difficult to accept hard truths.
Democrats should recall that anointing any one candidate at the expense of other competitors is a political strategy that failed miserably in the 2016 presidential race.
Hillary Clinton was deemed the “chosen one” even though Senator Bernie Sanders had significant support and momentum to potentially win the nomination had it been a level playing field.
Yet the Democratic National Committee (DNC) intentionally threw Bernie under the bus when it abandoned neutrality during the primary process and directed all the big donors and party support (GOTV) to Hillary.
Who knows what the outcome would have been in 2016 if there were a Bernie versus Trump match up?
The course of history may have been inevitably changed if Bernie had beaten Trump. However, we will never know what might have been.
Back then, the DNC decided to bet the proverbial house on a singular candidate who was supposed to be a shoo-in for victory.
Is the DNC repeating what turned out to be a historic loss back then by anointing Biden’s reelection campaign now?
Is sticking with Biden the wisest political course of action to defeat Trump at the ballot box?
Final Thoughts
This series will examine three key reasons why Democrats should seriously consider a new presidential candidate now to replace Biden, as the primary process moves ahead.
The three main reasons to drop Biden from the ballot are: re-electability, age and voter fatigue.
Therefore, it cannot be reiterated enough that Biden’s current polling numbers are historically dismal for any incumbent president seeking reelection.
Consider some recent news headlines:
- “Joe Biden has lower approval than all recent sitting U.S. presidents”
- “National poll shows widespread disappointment with Biden presidency”
- “Trump leads over Biden in key swing states”
- “20-point deficit on handling economy highlights Biden”
- “Biden’s approval slips to lowest point in presidency”
- “The 2024 gender gap grows — and not in Biden’s direction”
These headlines are bad omens that could potentially turn into a nightmare reality come November for those opposing Trump and his far right extremist MAGA base.
The question now is whether Biden is worth that risk as the future viability of our democratic republic could be at stake?
What do YOU think?
Note: Find Part 2 here.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: I previously served in the White House as a political appointee. I also worked on a winning presidential campaign and at the Presidential Transition Office, in addition to the U.S. Congress and federal government agencies. You can learn more about me here.