President Joe Biden has adopted a blunt strategy when it comes to surviving as his party’s presidential nominee: I dare you to say I shouldn’t stay in the race.
That’s what Biden was up to on Friday when, in an interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, he said that only the “Lord Almighty” could get him to drop his candidacy.
What Biden was doing there was planting a flag — sending a message to his fellow Democrats that he wasn’t going to go quietly. And that the only way they could really bring pressure to bear on him to reconsider his plan to stay in the race was to come out — publicly and with their names attached — and call for him to step aside.
You want me out? Come and say it to my face — is what what is essentially saying.
It’s a gamble, for sure. Because it forces the hands of Democratic politicians, the vast majority of whom, behind the scenes, say Biden should go.
Already a handful have called Biden’s bluff. This comes from the New York Times on Sunday:
The question now is whether it’s a trickle or a flood of calls for Biden to drop out when Congress returns this week. The answer to that question will almost certainly determine whether the president can remain in the race.
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