WASHINGTON — California Rep. Adam Schiff on Wednesday became the highest-profile Democrat to call on President Joe Biden to drop his re-election bid, as the party moved forward with plans to hold a virtual vote to make Biden formally appointed him in the first week of August, before the in-person opening of the party convention two weeks later.
The decision to schedule the roll call vote comes after nearly 20 Democratic members of Congress called on Biden to withdraw from the presidential race following his faltering debate performance against former Republican President Donald Trump last month. Among Democrats nationwide, nearly two-thirds say Biden should step aside and let his party nominate a different candidate, according to a survey by the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Researchreleased on Wednesday, drastically undermining his post-debate claim that “average Democrats” are still with him, even as some “big names” are turning against him.
“While the choice to withdraw from the campaign is President Biden’s alone, I believe it is time for him to pass the torch,” Schiff, a key ally of Nancy Pelosi who is running for Senate this year, said in a statement. “And in doing so, secure his legacy of leadership, allowing us to defeat Donald Trump in the next election.”
Schiff’s announcement comes after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries encouraged the Democratic National Convention to delay for a week plans to hold the virtual vote to renominate Biden, who could to have already occurred on Sunday, according to two people known. with the situation he spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.
Now, the Democratic National Convention The rules committee will meet Friday to discuss virtual voting plans and finalize them next week, according to a letter sent to members obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press. The letter from co-chairs Bishop Leah D. Daughtry and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz states that virtual roll call voting will not occur before August 1, but that the party is still committed to holding a vote before August 7 , which was the deadline to get on Ohio’s presidential ballot.
“We will not implement a rushed virtual voting process,” Daughtry and Walz wrote, “although we will begin our important consideration of how a virtual voting process would work.”
The Democratic convention begins on August 19 in Chicago, but the party announced in May that it would hold an advance call to ensure Biden would qualify for the vote in Ohio. Ohio originally had an August 7 deadline, but has since changed its rules. Biden’s campaign insists the party must operate under Ohio’s initial rules to ensure Republican lawmakers cannot mount legal challenges to keep the president out of the vote.
Even if Democrats hold a virtual roll call vote before their conventionMeanwhile, this would not necessarily prevent Biden from running for the nomination. The Democratic National Committee’s legislative arm could vote to hold a roll call vote in Chicago, said Elaine Kamarck, a longtime member of that committee and an expert on the party’s nominating process. But with Ohio’s law not taking effect until Sept. 1, Biden’s appearance on the state’s ballot remains a real concern, Kamarck said.
“This is a safe harbor for Democrats,” Kamarck said, adding that “the convention is the ultimate authority” in the nominating process.
The AP-NORC poll, taken as Biden works to save his candidacy, two weeks later your debate failedalso found that only about 3 in 10 Democrats are extremely or very confident that he has the mental capacity to serve effectively as president, just below the 40% in an AP-NORC poll in February.
Daughtry and Walz’s letter comes a day after a contingent of House Democrats wary of quickly nominating Biden as the party’s reelection pick circulated another letter raising “serious concerns” about plans for a virtual roll call vote. Their letter to ODNCwhich was not sent, says it would be a “bad idea” to stifle the debate on the party’s candidate with an early roll call vote.
“This could profoundly undermine Democratic morale and unity,” the letter obtained by the AP said.
A spokesperson said Huffman was pleased with the decision to delay and would delay sending the letter from House Democrats while they continue to monitor the situation.
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Associated Press writers Mary Clare Jalonick, Lisa Mascaro and Leah Askarinam contributed to this report.
This story originally appeared on Time.com read the full story
