Why Progressives Are Silent on Biden’s Withdrawal from the Presidential Race

It’s been more than a week since Joe Biden’s disastrous debate performance. As the polls continue to come in, Democrats across the party—elected officials, former, current, and perhaps future strategists, and pundits—have begun to say, loudly and not just anonymously, that they think Biden should step down from his campaign.

Prominent Democratic strategist James Carville has been vocal in his belief that Biden should step down. Former Ohio congressman and Senate candidate Tim Ryan has said Biden should step down, as has Colorado congressman Adam Frisch. Two of the three members of the Blue Dogs Coalition leadership group, a conservative group of Democrats, have made independent public statements claiming that Trump would win the presidency in a potential showdown with Biden. Massachusetts Rep. Seth Moulton has called on Biden to step down, and California Rep. Scott Peters has said that if Biden doesn’t show he can win “as soon as possible,” Democrats will need a new nominee.

All of these members have this in common: They are avowed moderates. The only group that has been notably silent on the president’s fate, however, is the left. Neither the Squad nor other members of Congress known for their progressive activism have spoken out. Two other sitting members of Congress who have called on Biden to step down—Lloyd Doggett of Texas and Raul Grijalva of Arizona—are members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, but that is a broad coalition. And neither Doggett nor Grijalva are anywhere near the Squad’s level of progressiveness.

For a group known for its infighting, this might come as a surprise. The Squad has at times been prone to publicly antagonizing the president over policy disagreements and has been regularly criticized for its lack of deference to Biden. You might think the group would seize any opportunity to lobby against the president: Remember, New York Rep. Jamaal Bowman just lost a primary after being besieged by nearly $20 million in ad spending that primarily criticized him for his lack of loyalty to Biden.

But they have remained surprisingly silent on the whole affair, at least for now.

The reason is that the question of whether Biden should run again is an infighting within the centrist wing of the party. Joe Biden has consistently been, throughout his decades-long career, the man in the center, or even slightly to the right, of the Democratic continuum. Progressives lost the 2020 Democratic primary in part because centrists coalesced around Biden, assuring the rest of the party that he was unequivocally the most electable candidate despite signs of decline. Supporters of the race’s remaining contenders, such as Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, have tried to make this argument but have failed to gain traction.

Today, many centrists who previously supported Biden are worried about his ability to win the election. Team members have no interest in putting themselves in the crosshairs during an already bitter public deliberation.

Meanwhile, the Squad also has an immediate electoral problem, one that will arise well before November: the question of the presidency. The group faces an unprecedented primary opposition, funded by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. It has already suffered the loss of its top member, Bowman, who was replaced in the general election by moderate Democrat George Latimer. Bowman has outspent his campaign by more than $15 million.

The next most worrisome contest is Missouri, where progressives are all hands on deck to try to save Rep. Cori Bush from a similar fate. Bush faces an AIPAC-recruited and -backed opponent in St. Louis County District Attorney Wesley Bell, who once ran a Republican challenger’s campaign in the same district. Meanwhile, the Democratic Party apparatus has largely left progressive representatives to fend for themselves in their fight to protect their seats, offering endorsements in Bush’s case but little money, seemingly unconcerned with the once-sacred goal of protecting the term. Bush, like Bowman before her, is about to be outflanked by millions of dollars in Republican-funded advertising. Already, grassroots volunteers are descending on the district on Bush’s behalf, and the Squad members are expected to be close behind.

It’s an interesting role reversal. For years, it was centrists who boasted about the sanctity of their mandate, spending money and energy to protect the moderate and conservative Democrats in power, while progressives demanded changes in vision and direction. Now, progressives are desperate to avoid drowning in a flood of money (again, much of it from Republican donors) that is being spent to put more moderates in power.

Part of the reason is that the Biden years have themselves seen an interesting shift in the party. Progressives have been willing to defend Biden and his agenda, while centrists have routinely undermined the president’s policy agenda. There may also be strategic thinking at work here; there is concern that the progressives’ lead in calling for Biden to step down will only push him further into retrenchment and could further alienate the White House caucus if Biden does indeed manage to stay in power. All of this has meant that the group with the loudest reputation is playing a mute role as this Democratic drama reaches its climax. indicate.