Democratic Strategist Says Party Has Two Problems
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks at an event marking the 12th anniversary of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in the East Room at the White House on June 18, 2024 in Washington, DC. Following the first 2024 presidential debate, Democratic strategist Julian Epstein said on Friday the Democratic party has two problems amid the 2024 election.
Democratic strategist Julian Epstein said on Friday that the Democratic Party has two problems amid this year's election after President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump's debated each other earlier this week.
Trump and Biden became their respective party's presumptive 2024 presidential candidates earlier this year following a string of primary victories, likely setting up a rematch of the fiercely contested 2020 election. On Thursday, the two participated in the first presidential debate of this year's election cycle, which was hosted by CNN in Georgia.
As Biden and Trump sparred over key issues during the debate, both faced high stakes, with polls suggesting many voters are unhappy with their choices ahead of the election. In addition, Biden, 81, and Trump, 78, have faced concerns about their age. However, Biden failed to quell those concerns during the debate after he appeared to lose his train of thought at times and stumble in his responses. The president's debate performance has led some members of the Democratic Party to consider replacing him as its nominee, however, there is no indication of who would be proposed as a candidate and Biden's campaign has not signaled stepping down.
In an appearance on Fox News with host Brian Kilmeade, Epstein, who previously served as Democratic chief counsel to the House Judiciary Committee, discussed Biden and the current state of the Democratic Party.
"The party has two problems right now, one is that 70 or 80 percent of voters think that Biden should not be running for president for the reasons everyone saw last night. The fact that it is a surprise to the elites, is what the surprise is because they are so disconnected from where the sort of average everyday common sense voter is," Epstein said on Friday.
He added: "The second problem...is that the party has been captured by a very ideologically extreme left that is completely intolerant of this set, it is that intolerance that has led to the groupthink that allows gaslighting by Democratic Party officials and the mainstream media that Biden is up for the job. It's the same gaslighting where the party does not recognize that it has moved way to the left in issues...The party not only needs a new candidate in my opinion, but it needs to move to the political center."
Newsweek has reached out to Biden's campaign via email for comment.
However, Biden and his campaign have continued to address the concerns about the president's age head on. In an ad that was released in March, Biden begins by stating, "I'm not a young guy. That's no secret. But, here's the deal. I understand how to get things done for the American people." The president then proceeds to lay out the various high-profile accomplishments of his first term, including the passage of a major infrastructure bill, lowering prescription drug costs, capping insulin prices for seniors, and leading the U.S. pandemic recovery efforts.
This is not the first time Epstein has made similar remarks about the Democratic Party as he reiterated in 2023 in an opinion article published by the Wall Street Journal titled, "Democrats Fear the Truth About Biden's 2024 Presidential Run."
"My fellow Democrats have shown their own kind of cowardice by refusing to say that President Biden shouldn't run for reelection. Polls show most Democratic voters don't want Mr. Biden to run again, but Democratic elites apparently believe that any dissent from party leadership or independent thinking—even in the name of an obvious truth—is dangerous to their job security," he wrote at the time.
Meanwhile, Democratic names floated as potential last-minute replacements as the party's nominee have included Vice President Kamala Harris, California Governor Gavin Newsom, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and former first lady Michelle Obama.
Michelle Obama is a name that Republicans have continually mentioned in the lead-up to this year's election.
"As former first lady, Michelle Obama has expressed several times over the years, she will not be running for president," Obama's office told NBC News in March. "Mrs. Obama supports President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris' reelection campaign."
A spokesperson for Obama previously told Newsweek that the statement from March still stands.
When asked by Kilmeade if he thinks "Democrats would be better served by Kamala or Gavin Newsom at this point," Epstein turned down both political figures as he pointed toward Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, saying he'd be a better choice.
"Kamala is very unpopular and she has hit the stage many times and she has not done particularly well...I think Gavin Newsom has appealed to some voters but to me and to a lot of others, he is sort of very superficial and a bit of lightweight. He did very poorly in the debate against [Florida] Governor [Ron] DeSantis on your network. I think a better choice would be Josh Shapiro who is more in the political center. He has been for things for school choice. He has denounced the pro-Hamas protesters on college campuses," Epstein said.
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