In the wake of President Joe Biden’s widely criticized debate performance against former President Donald Trump, the Democratic Party finds itself scrambling — and Michelle Obama has quickly taken the lead at the top of the pile.
An internal poll leaked Wednesday showing a disastrous downturn for the Biden campaign among voters — according to Puck News, Biden has lost an average of a 2 percent of support in battleground states. That would lead to a landslide loss to Trump.
On the same day, insider reports about potential alternatives to Biden has former First Lady Michelle Obama emerging as the front-runner in hypothetical match-ups.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted immediately after the debate revealed that one-third of Democrats believe Biden should end his reelection bid. The survey, which polled 1,070 U.S. adults nationwide, found that only Michelle Obama stood out as the only hypothetical candidate who outperformed both Biden and Trump.
Other prominent Democrats, including Vice President Kamala Harris, California Governor Gavin Newsom, and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, performed similarly or slightly worse than Biden when pitted against Trump, according to pollsters.
But in a potential match-up, Michelle Obama led Trump 50 percent to 39 percent, Reuters claimed. The strong polling has fueled speculation about her as a potential replacement for Biden — and led to outrage in other Democratic Party camps. Discussion about replacing Biden with former President Barack Obama’s wife has been circulating among Democrats for months.
It seems the long knives are already out in the behind-the-scenes fight to replace Biden.
In particular, the discussion has reportedly caused significant tension among Harris’ team.
Sources close to Harris have expressed anger that she has been largely boxed out by Michelle as a possible replacement. They argue that overlooking her for the job as Biden’s replacement, when she has served as vice president for three years, would be “offensive” to black voters.
“The fact that people keep coming back to this is so offensive to so many of us,” an ally of Harris complained to Politico. “They still don’t get that the message you’re saying to people, to this Democratic Party, is, we prefer a white person.”
Harris’ team has pointed out that her race may allow her to appeal to black voters – a core demographic for the Democrats that has begun to shift away from Biden in recent months. Data from the Pew Research Center shows 77 percent of black voters say they are leaning towards voting for Biden in November, down from 93 percent that supported him in 2020.
However, Harris’ rivals within the Democratic Party point out that she polls far worse than Biden among voters in general.
An average of polls suggests Trump would lead Harris by six percentage points in a head-to-head race, while current polls have Trump and Biden neck-and-neck.
Democratic lawmakers have started to call for Biden to resign the nomination.
At least 25 House Democrats are expected to call for him to step aside this week, and Democratic governors are reportedly huddling in the White House on Wednesday in a last ditch effort by the Biden campaign to shore up support.
Some party strategists have suggested the possibility of a “contested convention” in Chicago in August, which would allow the party to choose a new nominee. However, this option carries significant risks in terms of party unity and public perception.
As the Democratic Party deals with the post-debate panic, the Biden public relations team has dismissed calls for him to step aside for a younger candidate.
With approximately four months left before the November 5 election, time is running out — and the coming weeks will be crucial in determining whether the Democratic Party ditches Biden for Michelle, Kamala… or someone else.