FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
Despite a week of canvassing, interviews and insistence that he is the best candidate to take on Republican Donald Trump, President Joe Biden has failed to soften efforts to remove him from the race for the November election.
President Biden is weighing over the weekend the alternatives that could determine the direction of the country and his party, as America heads to the polls with a Republican Party mobilized after the National Assembly gave the official nomination as a candidate to former President Trump.
Lawmaker Mark Takano, the top Democrat on the House Veterans Affairs Committee, added his name Saturday to the list of 36 Democrats in Congress who say it's time for President Biden to drop out of the race. The California lawmaker called on President Biden to pass the baton to Vice President Kamala Harris.
Meanwhile, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren told MSNBC on Saturday that the vice president is "capable of taking on" bringing the party together and confronting former President Trump if President Biden decides to step down.
Other lawmakers are expected to speak publicly in the coming days. Donors have raised concerns. Meanwhile, an organization calling on President Biden to "Pass the Baton" plans a rally Saturday in front of the White House. President Biden has insisted that he is fully committed to running.
"It's not a good feeling to admit that he shouldn't be our official nominee in November," said Democratic lawmaker Morgan McGarvey of Kentucky, one of the elected Democrats calling for President Biden to drop out of the race. "But what this election determines is incredibly important, and we can't risk the focus of the campaign being anything other than Donald Trump."
The tense situation has become increasingly volatile for the party and its leaders, a month before the Democratic National Convention that should have been a unifying moment to nominate their current president to face Mr. Trump. Instead, the party finds itself at a crossroads not seen for generations.
These developments in the Democratic camp are in stark contrast to Republicans, who, after years of bitter and chaotic internal disputes over Mr. Trump, have essentially embraced the dominance of the former president's more conservative right wing among Republicans, despite the announcement of his guilty plea to payments made in New York, and the fact that he is awaiting the outcome of a federal criminal indictment for attempting to overturn the outcome of the 2020 election, prior to the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol.
From his home in Delaware, the 81-year-old Biden is physically isolated due to the infection from COVID, but also politically, among a small circle of family members and close advisers. White House physician Kevin O'Connor said Friday that the president still has a dry cough and sore throat, but that his symptoms have improved.
The president's team insists he is ready to return to the campaign trail this week to counter what he called a "bleak vision" put forward by former President Trump.
"Together, as a party and as a country, we can and will defeat him at the ballot box," President Biden said in a statement Friday. "The importance (of these elections) is great and the choice is clear. Together we will win."
But beyond Rehoboth, his hometown in Delaware, the debate and passions are intensifying.
A call to about 300 donors on Friday was described as a waste of time by one attendee, who spoke about the meeting on condition of anonymity. While the person expressed appreciation for Vice President Harris, who spoke for five minutes, the rest of the time was taken up by other officials who brushed aside donors' concerns, according to the attendee.
Demokratët jo vetëm që janë të ndarë për atë se çfarë duhet të bëjë presidenti Biden, por atyre u mungon gjithashtu konsensusi se si të zgjedhin një pasardhës.
Demokratët që po kërkojnë që presidenti Biden të largohet, momentalisht nuk duket se janë të bashkuar rreth një plani për atë që do të ndodhte më pas. Shumë pak nga ligjvënësit e kanë përmendur zonjën Harris në deklaratat e tyre dhe disa kanë thënë se favorizojnë një proces të hapur emërimi që do t’ia jepte mbështetjen e partisë një kandidati të ri.
Senatorët demokratë Jon Tester nga Montana dhe Peter Welch nga Vermonti kanë bërë thirrje që presidenti Biden të largohet nga gara dhe thanë se do të mbështesnin një proces të hapur emërimi në kuvend.
“Një proces i hapur do të forconte cilindo që të jetë i emëruari përfundimtar”, tha senatori Welch në një intervistë me agjencinë e lajmeve Associated Press.
Demokratë të tjerë thonë se do të ishte politikisht e paimagjinueshme të anashkalohej zonja Harris, nënpresidentja e parë grua e vendit, e cila është me origjinë afrikano-amerikane dhe nga Azia juglindore, si dhe praktikisht e pamundur nga pikëpamja logjistike ndërsa një votim virtual për emërimin pritet të bëhet në fillim të muajit të ardhshëm, përpara se të çelet Kuvendi Demokrat në Çikago më 19 gusht.
Ligjvënësja nga Minesota, Betty McCollum, e cila i ka bërë thirrje presidentit Bidenit të largohet, dha haptazi mbështetjen për zonjën Harris si zëvendësuese e mundshme.
"Për t'u dhënë demokratëve një shans të fortë dhe të qëndrueshëm për të fituar Shtëpinë e Bardhë, unë po i bëj thirrje presidentit Biden të lërë të çlirojë delegatët e tij nga vota për të dhe të fuqizojë nënpresidenten Harris që të marrë përsipër të bëhet kandidatja demokrate për presidente", tha ligjvënësja McCollum në deklaratën e saj.
Është e paqartë se çfarë veprimi tjetër mund të ketë mbetur që presidenti mund ta ndërmerrte për të ndryshuar kurs dhe për të rifituar ligjvënësit dhe votuesit demokratë, të cilët kanë shqetësime për aftësinë e tij për ta mundur ish-presidentin Trump dhe për të shërbyer edhe për një mandat tjetër, pas paraqitjes së tij të dobët në debatin presidencial muajin e kaluar.
Gati dy të tretat e demokratëve thonë se presidenti Biden duhet të tërhiqet nga gara dhe të lejojë partinë e tij të emërojë një kandidat tjetër, sipas një anketimi të ri të Qendrës për Studime Publike dhe agjencisë së lajmeve Associated Press. Kjo dobëson ndjeshëm argumentin e tij pas debatit, se "demokratët e zakonshëm" janë ende me të edhe nëse disa “emra me peshë” po i kthehen kundër.
At the same time, most Democrats believe Kamala Harris would do a good job as leader, according to another poll by the Center for Public Studies and the Associated Press news agency.
President Biden, who addressed a defiant letter to congressional Democrats vowing to stay in the race, has yet to go to the Capitol to drum up more support around him, an absence noted by senators and lawmakers.
The president held a round of virtual conversations with various groups of lawmakers over the past week — some of which ended badly.
During a call with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Democratic lawmaker Mike Levin of California told President Biden that he should step down. During another meeting with the Congressional Progressive Caucus, President Biden went on the defensive when California lawmaker Jared Huffman asked him to consider meeting with top party leaders to determine how to proceed.
Lawmaker Huffman was one of four Democratic lawmakers who called Friday for President Biden to step down.
But President Biden still has strong supporters. Despite rumors of his withdrawal from some of these groups, he received support Friday from the congressional Hispanic Caucus and has the backing of congressional leaders of the African-American Caucus and the Progressive Caucus. / VOA
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