CHICAGO — Despite the excited feelings Democratic conventionAfter President Joe Biden declined to seek re-election, the ongoing tension in the party has been brought into public view.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi stood in the front row of the convention and waved a “We ❤️ Joe” sign as she took the stage hours after she said. reporters on Monday he said he was unapologetic about the role he played in ousting her.
“I just wanted to win this election,” he said, adding that if Biden loyalists were unhappy, “I’m sorry for them, but the country is very happy.”
As Democrats gathered in Chicago this week to celebrate Kamala Harris, whose nomination is just four weeks old, they sought to quell any disagreement over the dramatic events that preceded Biden’s abrupt exit from the race. Campaign officials are sending a public message that Democrats are united behind Harris and determined to defeat Trump.
However, divisions over Biden’s withdrawal from the race are heating up within the party, raising questions about whether Democrats can maintain a united front if they stumble or their poll numbers begin to sink.
Behind the Democratic coalition, strategists say, is an aching desire to defeat Donald Trump, whom the party sees as the most unpalatable challenger the GOP has fielded in living memory.
But internal cracks are hard to miss.
Biden sidestepped his prepared remarks in a congressional speech, saying he was “not angry at all the people who say I should resign” — putting the issue out in the open and raising new questions. If not angry, hurt? Did he feel betrayed?
When reporters asked him his mindset as he left Chicago on Monday night, Biden acknowledged that he had not spoken to Pelosi. The fact that he hasn’t said a word to Pelosi, the power brokers he’s known for half a century, is a sign of some lingering frostiness.
Many of Biden’s loyalists are bitter on his behalf, believing he was unfairly shut out of the race. Even First Lady Jill Biden privately The expression “concern”. More Democrats did not stand by her husband as she faced pressure to end her campaign after a dismal debate performance in June.
A Biden adviser said political aides were directed to support Harris’ presidential bid in any way possible. This person said the directive from above is not the time to agonize over Biden’s fate.
“The biggest determining force in modern Democratic politics is opposition to Trump,” the adviser added. “It’s more than a lot. He is so hostile to what we believe in that he transcends everything.”
Former Sen. Ted Kaufman of Delaware, a longtime Biden friend and former Senate chief of staff, said in an interview: “It’s pretty much everyone’s primary focus here. [at the convention] How can we make Harris president and Tim Walsh vice president. It is the current threat of Trump’s presidency that supercharges this.”
White House Communications Director Ben LaBolt echoed Kaufman, who spoke privately, saying: “President Biden is 100 percent focused on the task at hand: continuing to do what he can for hard-working Americans over the next five months and ensuring that his managing partner, Vice President Harris, makes that progress.” is selected.”
LaBolt added that Biden is “grateful for President Obama’s support of a number of measures when he ran this cycle and for the partnership that led to massive expansion of health care access, held Wall Street accountable and brought the nation out. Democrats, Donald Trump’s commitment to democracy and freedom nothing but taking a single and decisive step towards November to defeat the threat posed to
Under the best of circumstances, the Democratic Party is struggling to stay afloat. A collection of interest groups and ideological factions, the party is so prone to infighting that the phrase “Democrats are in disarray” has become a familiar Washington news trope.
Biden’s departure set off a chain of events that could lead to chaos and strain the party to breaking point. At the very least, the Harris-for-Biden switch was the biggest test of party unity since President Lyndon Johnson declined re-election in 1968 amid the Vietnam War. (Johnson’s vice president, Hubert Humphrey, lost to Richard Nixon that year.)
A pin worn by some Democrats at the convention included Pelosi’s “Godmother,” marionette strings and all. Whether meant as a compliment or an insult, the photo speaks to the “make-him-can’t-refuse” tactic used to sway Biden in favor of Harris.
“I’ve talked to 100 Biden people — House members, senators and fundraisers — who think he’s completely screwed,” said one Biden donor, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “It was unfair, unwise and unfair. And people who do that will not reflect well on their behavior in history.”
For Biden, loyalty runs both ways. He surprised some of the several dozen supporters who flew in on a chartered plane from his home state of Delaware to attend his speech at his downtown hotel on Monday.
The Rev. Christopher Bullock, pastor of Canaan Baptist Church in New Castle, joked that Biden was “still working the room as a candidate for office.”
Now, Harris’ job is to make sure that any illness doesn’t derail his candidacy. He created the triumvirate of campaign operatives for Biden, Harris and Barack Obama. Some have competed against each other over the years and must now come together to remove Trump from the White House.
“Our campaign is united around Vice President Harris and Governor Walsh and their agenda to protect Americans’ liberties, strengthen economic security for the middle class, and build a stronger future together,” said Harris campaign spokesman James Singer.
Regrets sometimes go back years. Mike Donilon, a longtime Biden adviser, left the campaign after his boss was dropped from the race, but Harris retained Jennifer O’Malley Dillon and Julie Chavez Rodriguez in top positions. O’Malley Dillon worked on past Obama campaigns; Chavez Rodríguez worked in the Obama White House.
Pelosi, in a recent interview The New Yorkerhe said, “I have never been so impressed with his appearance [Biden’s] “It’s a political operation,” but he didn’t say who he was referring to.
Another potential source of friction is Harris’ decision to bring in a few Former Obama campaign aidesIncluding David Plouffe, who managed Obama’s 2008 campaign and worked in Biden’s White House when he was vice president.
Plouffe is always associated with Obama — which may endear him to some Biden loyalists. Biden’s son Hunter wrote in his memoirs that he “didn’t hang around [Obama] White House too; “I didn’t want to be in the position of going to a barbecue with the president and the White House staff on Sunday after reading about someone throwing my dad under the bus.” He did not reveal the personnel he trusted.
Adding Obama alumni to Harris’ campaign team was a “gut punch” for Biden, a person familiar with the matter said in an interview.
This was reported by Politico Earlier this month, O’Malley spoke with Dillon Harris about additions to his campaign team, saying he wanted to know if the arrival of Plouffe and others would trump his influence. O’Malley Dillon did not respond to a request for comment.
A Harris aide said in an interview Tuesday that O’Malley said Dillon’s phone call was meant to “get in sync with the vice president on how he’s going to lead the campaign” and expressed no concern about Plouffe’s dilution. his authority.
Dillon and Plouffe “have been friends and colleagues for years. They are excited to be working together,” said O’Malley, an aide who spoke on condition of anonymity.
For Harris, the compressed calendar could work in his favor. Anyone trying to defeat Trump has little time to dwell on past animosities, according to some Democrats.
“The campaign is energized and I see a team that is highly motivated and pulling in the right direction,” said Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., Biden’s closest congressional ally. “There are some of the most talented people in Democratic politics who worked for Biden and Obama and are now part of the Harris-Walz team. We only have 80 days left, so I am very optimistic that the campaign will be able to maintain its unity and energy.”