President Joe BidenThe shaky debate performance has drawn more Democratic attention to races down the ballot, with donors, candidates and strategists looking for ways to shore up a firewall in Congress against the chance of another. donald trump presidency.
A prominent liberal fundraising group says it has seen a huge increase in donor interest in its downvote efforts. The battleground candidates are largely keeping their heads down amid intraparty arguments over whether Biden should stay in the race. And Democratic strategists involved in the House and Senate elections note that their candidates have long led Biden in public and private polls, as the president has struggled to consolidate the party’s base, including voters of color and young voters.
The big concern now is that these voters, unenthusiastic about their top picks and perhaps recently worried about Biden after the debate, will decide not to show up in November, depriving other Democrats of their votes.
“Look, there are concerns about the impact on electoral races if the president doesn’t do well,” said California Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff, his party’s Senate candidate. told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday.
“Currently, our least voted candidates in the Senate and House are doing well. They are all ahead. They are well ahead of the president,” Schiff added. “But you can only be so much ahead of the president.”
And while only a few influential Democrats have so far influenced Biden’s future as the party’s presidential candidate, they likely won’t be able to stay silent for long, especially as they will be confronted by journalists in the halls of the Capitol when they return. to Washington this week.
Biden, in turn, said he will remain in the race.
“I’m not going anywhere,” Biden told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Monday. “And I wouldn’t be running if I didn’t absolutely believe I was the best candidate to defeat Donald Trump in 2024.”
Money rush
Democrats are looking to maintain their slim majority in the Senate and pick up four seats to take control of the chamber in November, and polls showed more or less a tie in the House race for months. However, one vulnerable House Democrat told NBC News, “Of course,” when asked if donors are worried.
Lawmakers spent the weekend immediately after the June 27 debate calling on donors to increase fundraising numbers at the end of the quarter.
One donor told the lawmaker, “We were scammed. I’m only donating to Democratic House members because they are our last hope,” according to notes the Democratic incumbent made during those conversations.
Pamela Shifman, president of the liberal donor group Democracy Alliance, said the group has seen a boost in its election efforts, including super PACs known as Battleground New York and Battleground California, which are focused on competitive House races in those states.
“We are seeing an increase in donations to initiatives like Battleground NY because donors recognize that investing in organizers is how we will win the House, the Senate and the White House this year,” Shifman said in a statement. “Mobilizing resources to organizers on the ground is exactly how we all stay focused right now to ensure we win at the polls in November.”
In a recent fundraising email, the group Progressive Change Campaign Committee, which opposed Biden during the 2020 Democratic primaries, openly courted donations by arguing, “The House could be our last barrier against Trump.”
“The specter of a second Trump presidency becomes more possible, more alarming and more terrifying every day. We have to think the unthinkable. We need a contingency plan,” the group wrote, before identifying several Democratic House members in tough races and asking donors for help.
Some Democratic campaign operatives working on election races have also reported an increase in donor interest.
“Donor calls have increased dramatically and people are starting to see the Senate as the top of the list,” said a Democratic strategist who works on Senate races, adding later: “We’ve had an increase in both the frequency and the intensity of the calls.” donor calls. of, ‘OK, this is our race now.’”
The day after the Biden-Trump debate, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., moderated a discussion with former President Barack Obama at a previously scheduled fundraiser for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Obama emphasized the importance of ensuring a Democratic House, according to two sources present. While there was no broader conversation about the House being a firewall against Trump, one source noted that talk of a “firewall” came up in side conversations throughout the evening.
The fundraiser raised $3 million for the DCCC, and the committee also raised $1.3 million online in the four days following the debate, which also occurred during the regular end-of-quarter fundraising effort., according to a source familiar with the committee’s fundraising.
But some who work on down-ballot races dismissed the notion that interest has increased in these races, noting that they have been a main focus since the start of the election cycle.
“We always understood that this election was going to be close and that there was some chance that Trump would win,” said Jenifer Fernandez Ancona, co-founder of the progressive donor network Way to Win, which is supporting Democrats in the election through its aligned PAC.
“And so we also established the idea that we have to win at every level, including in the House, as part of a safety wall,” she said.
Laying down – for now
As some donors refocused on electoral races, many Democrats running in competitive states and districts remained silent about Biden’s future as their party’s nominee.
Some Democrats have backed Biden, including Sen. Bob Casey, who campaigned with Biden in Pennsylvania on Sunday amid his tough re-election battle in the state.
Senator Sherrod Brown, a vulnerable Democrat in a tough re-election race in Ohio, did not directly answer whether he believes Biden should stay or go. A campaign spokesperson pointed to comments Brown made Monday during a visit to Youngstown.
“I’m not going to judge people in my party, what they’re saying or what Republicans are saying,” Brown said. “I’m not an expert. I talked to people in Ohio. They have legitimate questions about whether the president should continue his campaign, and I will continue to listen to people.”
Sen. Jon Tester of Montana, who along with Brown is one of two Democrats running for re-election in states Trump won in 2020, said in a statement: “President Biden needs to prove to the American people – including me – that he It’s up to the job for another four years. In the meantime, I will continue to do what I have always done: stand up to President Biden when he is wrong and protect our way of life in Montana.”
Just one member of the DCCC’s “Frontline” program for vulnerable incumbents — Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn. – publicly said Biden should step aside.
Rep. Susan Wild of Pennsylvania expressed concern in a call Sunday with Democratic ranking members about Biden’s effect on competitive districts like hers, according to two people familiar with her comments. Wild said in a subsequent statement that she “expressed the same concerns that Americans across the country are facing about President Biden’s electability at the top of the ticket.”
Other vulnerable lawmakers have signaled they intend to keep the focus on their own races.
“The president had a rough night, but I’m running a different race in my community,” Rep. Matt Cartwright of Pennsylvania, one of five Democrats running in districts Trump carried in 2020, said in a statement. Cartwright also represents Biden’s hometown of Scranton.
“Northeastern Pennsylvania knows me,” Cartwright added. “They know I’m providing good-paying jobs, lowering prescription drug prices and defending our rights.”
Vulnerable Democrats have been discussing Biden’s impact on their races but are worried about speaking out if Biden remains the nominee and comes to campaign in their districts, according to a senior aide to an incumbent in a battleground district.
It remains to be seen whether more lawmakers will speak out when they return to Washington.
“If you’re a Democrat in a tough race, you can’t accomplish anything by calling for the president to resign other than ensuring that your message about what you’re doing for your state and why your opponent is bad is completely drowned out,” a the Democratic national strategist said. “If you want to have a private conversation, that’s another matter.”
Former Rep. Max Rose, D-N.Y., senior adviser to VoteVets, a group that supports Democratic candidates with military and national security experience, told NBC News that he has been in contact with candidates in recent days. “What’s really remarkable, though, is the degree to which these candidates are — just head down,” Rose said.
“Our advice has not changed and it is very simple,” Rose continued, later adding: “People need to understand the magnitude of the decision before them. This is about the future of our country and protecting the values and rights we hold dear.”
“And those bets didn’t change last week, nor did they change last year,” Rose said.
This article was originally published in NBCNews. with
