Can Democrats really push Biden to step aside in 2024 race?

Growing concerns within the Democratic Party about President Joe Biden's electability against former President Donald Trump have led some congressional Democrats to consider pushing for Biden's withdrawal from the race. Raymond James Washington policy analyst and managing director Ed Mills joins Morning Brief to discuss this evolving political landscape.

Mills observes "it's very clear" that some Democrats want Biden to step aside, but "it's also very clear... that Biden himself wants to stay in this race." He explains that Biden has secured the delegates needed to become the nominee ahead of August's Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago.

"If he wants to be the nominee, he has the ability to be the nominee unless delegates decide to change the rules, and then we have a really messy situation on our hands," Mills says.

Biden's perspective is that this is the same group that pushed him out in 2016, "which gave us the presidency of Donald Trump in the first place," Mills tells Yahoo Finance. However, Mills notes that if a new Democratic presidential candidate were to emerge, they would face the challenging task of shifting the narrative from Biden's perceived weaknesses to Trump's unfavorability.

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This post was written by Angel Smith

Video Transcript

Former President Trump taking the opportunity during his speech at the RNC to criticize the Biden administration.

If you took the 10 worst presidents in the history of the United States, think of it, the 10 worst added them up, they will not have done the damage that Biden has done only gonna use the term once Biden.

I'm not gonna use the name anymore.

Just one time, the damage that he's done to this country is unthinkable.

This comes as the calls within the Democratic Party grow louder for President Biden to step aside in the 2024 presidential race.

New poll out from a P finding that 65% of Democrats say that President Biden should withdraw from the race in favor of someone else.

Ed Mills, Raymond James, a Washington policy analyst and managing director joins us now and it's great to talk to you.

So let's start now with where things stand on the Democratic side.

We've heard the reports, we've seen the reports over the last several days, more and more Democrats coming out and calling or at least talking privately, maybe uh for President Biden to step aside in the race from your perspective.

Is it just more of a question of when and not if at this point, Shana, I still think that we are on a collision course.

Um You know, it's very clear that congressional Democrats want him to step aside, but it's also very clear that the Biden uh team and Biden himself wants to stay in this race.

Um The COVID diagnosis and fact that he's home off the campaign trail uh only restarted this.

Um I do think that, you know, we're looking at a situation where Biden has the delegates and if he wants to be the nominee, he still has the ability to be the nominee unless delegates decide to change the rules.

And then we have a really messy situation on our hands compounding.

That is the fact that the Democrats have chosen a date after the ballot deadline in Ohio, uh pushing for an online convention.

So one of the questions is, do we even get to Chicago um and have the opportunity to have an open convention.

Um It's a real freak out right now in terms of Democrats uh who are seeking to keep their power in Congress, they look at this campaign as something that could drag down the entire ticket, cost them an opportunity to get a majority in the House and cost them the opportunity to maintain the majority in the Senate.

That's why we're seeing this big push by congressional Democrats trying to push them aside But what Biden says is this is the same crew that pushed him out in 2016, which gave us the presidency of Donald Trump in the first place.

That's the tension.

How much of this also comes back to and incapability to market the messaging or at least continue to put front and center of the messaging of what the election is actually about from the Democratic side, either to younger voters who are gonna be relied on to essentially show up and have those large voter turnouts that typically favor Democrats or even the large donors out there.

Because that's what a lot of people actually wanna hear about as well here, especially if on the other side, you're just continuing to hear uh perpetuates of lies that typically um that come through.

So how much of this comes back to their ability to actually get the messaging through?

Yeah, so Brad, as it relates to turnout, as it relates to Democrats and demographics, uh there are some real concerns here.

You look at traditional voting blocks that are in favor of Democrats and there's real weakness among Hispanic voters among black voters.

You mentioned younger voters, one area of strength that I don't think gets enough attention are seniors.

They're with the president in a way that Democrats usually do not see partly because of all the conversation about his age.

If you push him out.

Are you going to get enough younger voters to offset what you might lose in older voters.

And if you have to bet which group shows up, I think a lot of pollsters will tell you those older voters are much more likely to come out as it relates to the conversation.

I think the Biden campaign knows that if this is a referendum on Joe Biden, Joe Biden loses because he's underwater and his favorability ratings right track wrong track.

The country only about 23% of the country thinks that we're on the right track.

They have to move this to be a referendum on Donald Trump.

And I, unfortunately, for them is they're not able to do this if anything, Trump has gained steam as Biden has become weaker in this.

So I think there is a desire to reset that narrative.

If there is another candidate, can that candidate make it a conversation about Trump in a conversation about how unfavorable he has been in his favorable versus unfavorable ratings having that shot on goal and maybe even trying to keep those losses in Congress much more minimized than what it looks like it would be today.