Joe Biden ‘more receptive’ to exit talks, says report

Washington: As US President Joe Biden self-isolates himself at his home in Delaware with a Covid-19 infection, he will remain under unrelenting pressure to step aside and let the Democratic party find a different nominee for the 2024 Presidential elections.

The New York Times has reported that the President has become “more receptive” to hearing plans for his exit although he may still be nowhere near the door. Not yet. But Democrats are pushing him towards it inch by inch.

Top Congressional Democrats Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer met the President last week and convened their caucuses’ concerns about his chances of winning and the impact of his candidacy on the fate of those running for the House of Representatives and the Senate.

The control of the two chambers is also up for grabs -- Republicans control the House, while the Democrats have the Senate at this point.

Biden’s efforts to stay in the race were jolted on Wednesday by Adam Schiff, a top Democrat who came out to publicly call upon the President to quit the race.

His defection is especially notable as he is considered very close to former House Speaker and Democratic powerhouse Nancy Pelosi, who recently threw open the question of Biden’s candidacy even as the latter tried to move ahead.

Pelosi has also told the President in a private conversation that polls show he cannot defeat Donald Trump and that he could even wreck the chances of the Democratic party to retake the House and retain control of the Senate.

In a further blow to the President, an effort to lock up the nomination before the start of the convention in Chicago, Illinois, by kicking off the polling virtually has been delayed, if not put off. The intention was to wrap up the nomination so that the campaign could get past the uncertainty dogging it.

Should he quit, Kamala Harris, the Indian American Vice-President, is likely to have the strongest claim on Biden’s ticket and campaign funds, which have been raised in the name of the Biden-Harris ticket.

Others in the fray could be California Governor Gavin Newsom, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, Maryland Governor We Moore, and Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear.

A new AP-NORC poll shows two-thirds of Democrats -- 65 per cent -- want Biden to leave the race and let the party find a different candidate. Confidence in his mental capability is also down slightly from a poll in February.

The news wasn’t too good for Harris from this poll either. Her favorability rating is similar to Biden, although her respondents had a less unfavourable opinion of her.

Although Harris has the strongest claim on the ticket should Biden withdraw, it’s still not clear how the party will pick its nominee to take on the Republican nominee, former President Donald Trump, who will accept the nomination later on Thursday, the final day of the four-day Republican convention underway in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.