ANGELO LYNN

Two weeks after President Biden’s debate with ex-president Trump, the news cycle has focused on Biden’s frailty and the prospect of him stepping aside allowing Democrats to nominate a new candidate. The pros and cons of such a decision have captivated American voters.

With House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi recently encouraging Biden to carefully reconsider his decision to stay in the race, though saying the decision was his to make, and good friend and celebrity donor George Clooney urging him to step aside in an NY Times op-ed on Wednesday, the pressure on Biden to step aside continues to grow.

Vermont’s congressional delegation is currently straddling the fence. 

Rep. Becca Balint was quoted in VtDigger this week as saying that while in Vermont this past weekend she “heard overwhelmingly from Vermonters that they would like to see President Biden step aside” and that she has conveyed that message to Democratic leadership. “Biden has an incredible record to run on, but folks are concerned about what they saw at the debate and his ability to win this election,” she said.

Prior to the debate Sen. Peter Welch said he believed Biden was the best candidate to defeat Trump, but post-debate he’s doubtful.

“People totally disregarded Trump and his lies and his performance, and are totally focused on Biden’s age. And so those issues have been intensified and I think we have to take that very, very seriously, because job one for the Democrats is to keep Donald Trump out of office.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders, like many progressives, remains in Biden’s camp, even while admitting Biden is not as sharp as he once was.

“Biden is old,” Sanders said. “He’s not as articulate as he once was. I wish he could jump up the steps on Air Force One. He can’t.”

But rather than focus on Biden’s age, Sanders says the election has to be about the policies each candidate would promote. 

“Whose policies,” Sanders asked, “have and will benefit the vast majority of the people in this country? Who has the guts to take on corporate America? Who is talking about expanding Medicare so we cover dental, hearing and vision? Who’s talking about raising the cap on the taxes that people pay into Social Security so we can raise social security benefits and extend the life of Social Security for 75 years? Who’s talking about a permanent child tax credit to cut childhood poverty by 50%? Those are the issues that Biden has talked about.

“The American people want change,” Sanders continued. “It will either be the change of Trump’s reactionary and xenophobic policies, or change that benefits working families. The choice is clear.”

Unfortunately, that’s not the choice many Americans are considering. Trump has been able to convince many Americans in red and swing states that he offers a better vision forward. Polls currently have Trump leading by 3 to 5 percentage points in each of the six swing states.

The dilemma facing Vermont’s delegation is reflective of anxious Democrats around the country. Many Progressives are sticking with Biden as the status quo candidate; the candidate they know will advocate for the policies that most align with their goals. Moderate Democrats and Independents seem to be pressing for a younger candidate able to take on Trump and distinguish the Democrat’s party platform from a reactionary Republican platform that advocates thrusting the nation into an authoritarian form of government. They want a more nimble candidate who can better expose Trump’s dangerous agenda and his politics of revenge.

The party’s problem is time. Pelosi danced around that issue, while trying to keep party discipline, after watching Biden deliver a forceful speech at the NATO summit on Tuesday and recount his many accomplishments.

“Let’s just hold off” with any announcements about his campaign while he is hosting foreign leaders on the world stage, she told fellow Democrats. “Whatever you’re thinking, either tell somebody privately, but you don’t have to put that out on the table until we see (how it goes) this week.”

Angelo Lynn