No Clear Outcome After Hill Dems Hold Key Meetings About Biden's Future

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Facts

• Tuesday had been expected to be a decisive day for the political future of US Pres. Joe Biden as House and Senate Democrats held separate meetings, but talks are set to continue through the week signaling that the divide over the viability of his candidacy persists.¹
• Senate Democrats refrained from sharing details on their closed-door lunch meeting, with Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) saying only that they had a 'constructive conversation' focused on 'beating' former Pres. Donald Trump.²
• Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the second-ranking Democrat in the Senate, told reporters after the meeting that Joe Biden's presidential campaign team has yet to show whether he can defeat Trump.³
• House Democrats have also failed to reach a consensus on the future of Biden's reelection bid amid growing concerns over his fitness for office as well as his chances to beat Trump after a poor performance in the first 2024 presidential debate.⁴
• House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) is said to have 'respectfully listened' to all sides and didn't try to persuade anyone. Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said that Biden would be the nominee.⁵
• However, Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) became the seventh House Democrat to call on Biden to withdraw from the presidential race — and the first to do so after the caucus meeting on Tuesday morning.⁶

Sources: ¹CNN, ²The Hill, ³Washington Post, ⁴New York Post, ⁵NBC and ⁶CBS.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by Huffington Post. This decision isn't about Biden or the Democratic elites, it's about the people. The president had one bad debate, but that doesn't change the fact that the people overwhelmingly chose him as the party's nominee, and during recent campaign stops and talks with voters, it's become evident his support is still rock-solid among those he wants to continue to represent and those who want to defeat Trump.
• Narrative B, as provided by MSNBC. Biden is going on the offensive, but not as much to defend himself against the calls to step aside as he's continuing the strategy of downplaying peoples' concerns over his health and ability to serve, let alone beat Trump. These worries go well beyond the party elites, as polling shows voters are losing faith in the president and could be thinking they voted for someone without knowing all the details.
• Republican narrative, as provided by National Review. Biden’s cognitive decline has been obvious for years, yet the Democrats refused to hold a legitimate primary, denying voters the opportunity to select a new candidate. Now, they're looking to replace Biden in a dysfunctional secretive process involving party insiders and governors. After years of claiming to fight for democracy, the Democratic Party seems to have cast it aside.

Predictions