Balancing Democrats' concerns about Biden with maintaining influence with the president

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Barack Obama faces a delicate balance: how to reconcile growing opposition to President Joe Biden’s continued campaign with his loyalty to his former running mate.

In recent days, Obama has fielded calls from congressional leaders, Democratic governors and key donors in which he shared their unease about the prospects of Biden’s campaign after his dismal performance in the June 27 debate against his predecessor, Donald Trump.

But even as Obama listened to Democrats’ concerns, he insisted that the decision to stay in the race was Biden’s alone, according to several people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private conversations.

Obama is in the most delicate political moment for Democrats since the impeachment of former President Bill Clinton, with the stakes much higher. It is a moment that requires Obama to balance his role as party elder and honest broker for Democrats seeking advice while avoiding being seen as betraying his former vice president.

“President Obama needs and wants to play the role of statesman, above the political fray traditionally played by past presidents,” said Matt Bennett, who served as an aide to Vice President Al Gore and is now executive vice president of the Democratic-leaning group Third Way. “He also wants to remain a credible sounding board for President Biden. If he takes a public stand, it will be career-ending.”

The relationship between Obama and Biden began as a marriage of political convenience, when he chose the veteran Delaware senator as his vice president in 2008. When they served in the Senate, the two men were not close.

The choice was made in part to allay concerns about Obama’s relative inexperience and to make white Democrats more comfortable with voting for a black politician who had not served in the Senate for more than four years. That pragmatic relationship eventually blossomed into a true partnership and friendship.

Julian Castro, who served as Obama’s secretary of housing and urban development, said he was not aware of Obama’s private discussions about Biden, but said it was crucial that “respected and trusted elders within the party” speak clearly to Biden about the headwinds Democrats will face if he remains in the race.

“Whether it’s President Obama, former President Clinton or Secretary of State Clinton, I think their most important role at this point is to help ensure that we have a successful November,” said Castro, who sought the Democratic presidential nomination against Biden in 2020 and recently called on him to end his current bid.

Obama’s concerns surfaced when former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi presented Biden with a poll she said showed he was unlikely to defeat Trump, while influential Democrats including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries also sent signals of concern about Biden’s political viability.

At the same time, nearly two-thirds of Democrats nationwide say Biden should step aside and let his party nominate another candidate, according to an AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll released this week. That sharply contradicts Biden’s post-debate claim that “average Democrats” are still with him even as some “big names” turn against him.

Biden is relying on his longtime aides to decide whether to bow to pressure and step down. He continues to publicly assert that he is the Democrat best positioned to beat Trump.

Campaign officials said Biden was even more determined to stay in the race as calls for his departure grew. But Biden also had time to reconsider — a brief opening apparently exploited by party leaders trying to plan his departure.

Obama has received more calls than he has made on the issue and considers protecting Biden and his legacy his primary concern, according to people familiar with his thinking, and has remained largely silent publicly on Biden’s political downfall.

In calls with allies, the former president has been protective of Biden and does not believe that taking a tougher stance — publicly or even privately — would be productive, according to people familiar with the matter.

The former president is also aware of lingering tensions within Biden’s political circle, with some senior Obama staffers urging Biden, when he was vice president, not to enter the 2016 presidential race.

In his memoir “Promise Me, Dad,” Biden wrote about his lunch with Obama in 2015, just months after his son Beau died of cancer, during which they discussed the possibility of running in 2016.

Obama, Biden recalled, asked if he would enter the race. Biden said he told Obama he wasn’t ready to make a decision, but that if he decided to enter the race, he would do so in time to be viable.

“The president was not encouraging,” Biden wrote.

Obama also urged Biden, as he pondered the 2016 campaign, to sit down with David Plouffe, one of the architects of Obama’s victorious 2008 campaign. Plouffe made clear to Biden that he would have a tough time winning against Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and the eventual Democratic nominee in that election, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Since last month’s disastrous debate, more than 20 Democratic lawmakers have called on Biden to step down. He has also faced harsh criticism from former Obama White House aides, including a group of senior aides who host the popular podcast Pod Save America and former Obama senior adviser and CNN analyst David Axelrod.

“There have always been two Joe Bidens. The empathetic, honest, generous leader, forged in loss and heartbreak, finding the good in friends and foes, in love with America, with arms wide open and room for everyone,” Jon Lovett, a former speechwriter for Barack Obama and co-host of Pod Save America, wrote on the social media site X last week. “And there’s the braggart with a grudge, who’s stubborn, who has something to prove, and his fellow senators who roll their eyes as the finger gets louder and the stories get longer. Statesman and politician, hero and idiot.”

In an interview with BET this week, Biden insisted he still has plenty of time to turn his campaign around. On Thursday, the campaign said Biden is determined to win reelection and will be the Democratic nominee.

Obama’s concerns come at a time when many Democrats believe time is running out to knock Biden out of the race, with just weeks to go before the Democratic National Convention.

But Biden and Obama, as they try to navigate this moment, seem bewildered by the weight of legacy and tradition, said Edward Frantz, a presidential historian at the University of Indianapolis.

Obama, Frantz said, has been a traditionalist during his nearly eight years out of office, largely retaining the post-presidency tradition of his predecessors who sought to avoid getting deeply involved in politics.

Biden, meanwhile, seems keenly aware that history has often not judged one-term presidencies kindly, Frantz said.

“Biden and Obama both have in mind the legacy they leave behind, and they have to juggle that legacy with their duty to their party and their country,” Frantz said. “To step down knowingly and willingly? Few have done that.”

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AP journalists Lisa Mascaro and Mike Balsamo contributed to this report.