Two of the three co-chairs of the congressional Blue Dog Democrats, both of whom represent swing districts, are saying President Joe Biden cannot win in November.
Reps. Jared Golden of Maine and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington have decided to come clean about Biden’s slipping chances. They know they’ll be working with President Trump come January.
The third co-chair of the Blue Dog Caucus, Alaska Rep. Mary Peltola, is not leaving Biden’s side.
“In 2025, I believe Trump is going to be in the White House,” wrote Rep. Golden, in an op-ed in the Bangor Daily News titled, “Donald Trump is going to win the election and democracy will be just fine.”
Golden wrote that after the first presidential debate, “lots of Democrats are panicking about whether President Joe Biden should step down as the party’s nominee. Biden’s poor performance in the debate was not a surprise. It also didn’t rattle me as it has others, because the outcome of this election has been clear to me for months: While I don’t plan to vote for him, Donald Trump is going to win. And I’m OK with that.”
He wrote, “Maine’s representatives will need to work with him when it benefits Mainers, hold him accountable when it does not and work independently across the aisle no matter what.”
The Blue Dog Democrats, whose membership is made up of those who are running in swing districts, have dropped to just 10. With Golden and Gluesenkamp Perez stating that Biden’s days are numbered, that’s 20% of the entire Blue Dog caucus having bolted, just one week after Biden’s disastrous debate spectacle.
“Pearl-clutching about a Trump victory ignores the strength of our democracy,” Golden wrote. “Jan. 6, 2021, was a dark day. But Americans stood strong. Hundreds of police officers protected the democratic process against thousands who tried to use violence to upend it. Judges and state election officials upheld our election laws. Members of Congress, including leaders from both parties, certified the election results.”
Alaska Democrat Rep. Mary Peltola will do what the Democrats tell her to do. That order may be coming soon: Fox News reported today that a letter with about 25 House Democrats signatures is being sent to the president, urging him to drop out of the race. There are, reportedly, multiple letters being sent to Biden from Congress.
House Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Texas was the first Democrat to publicly call for Biden to drop from the ticket.
In addition to Golden and Gluesenkamp Perez, a Democrat who is challenging Rep. Lauren Boebert in Colorado agrees that Biden is done. Adam Frisch said the president should withdraw from the race.
The White House has changed Biden’s schedule for the weekend. He’ll travel to Wisconsin on Friday and sit down with Democrat surrogate ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos, who will give him some softball questions. On Sunday he will be in Philadelphia. Both are states considered pivotal and battlegrounds.
