Washington
CNN
—
A cabal of House Democrats convinced President Joe Biden is too politically damaged to defeat President Donald Trump in November are urging the Democratic National Committee to abandon plans to effectively nominate Biden in the coming weeks, setting up an unusual intraparty clash with Biden allies who are waging a quiet pressure campaign to hasten the president’s formal nomination.
Democrats have been planning for weeks to wrap up Biden’s nomination process by Aug. 7, well ahead of next month’s Chicago convention. But Rep. Jared Huffman, a progressive Democrat from California, told CNN on Tuesday that “more and more members” are concerned about virtual roll call votes, calling them a “terrible idea” and “stupid.”
“If the election were held today, he would lose miserably,” Huffman said of Biden. “We’ve got to do something about it.”
CNN has also learned from multiple sources that a draft letter is circulating among House Democrats urging the party to slow down the process, a clear sign of party concerns about Biden remaining at the top of the shortlist.
As those concerns are voiced publicly and privately, some of Biden’s allies are pushing for him to open the online voting process as soon as possible, according to six Democratic officials familiar with the discussions. Two key Democratic committees are scheduled to meet this Friday and Sunday to discuss a precise timeline for delegates across the country to begin voting, which could happen no earlier than after their second meeting on Sunday.
If voting were to begin on Sunday or shortly thereafter, that would be an aggressive timeline — and the idea is already drawing new scrutiny from other Democrats who are eager for Biden to acknowledge his agenda and step aside.
“There’s as much mistrust that the DNC will speed up the nomination as there is a perception that they’re leading Democrats to a fire with a bottle of water,” one House Democrat said.
The DNC’s virtual roll call process was initially put in place to head off an issue in Ohio that could have left Biden off the ballot. Ohio lawmakers later passed a law making that issue moot, but the DNC said it still faced a lawsuit from the Ohio Republican Party if it went ahead with the virtual roll call.
Time is running out for Democrats, who fear that if Biden loses to Trump, they will take the Democratic nominee with them, to make their case to the president, his family and his very close circle of advisers. But while those pleas are taking place behind the scenes every day, plans are also being made to use party rules to shore up Biden’s position over the course of the Democratic convention.
Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison denied any suggestion that there might be an effort within the DNC to expedite the virtual roll call.
“The schedule for the virtual roll call process remains on schedule and has not changed since the DNC decided on it in May,” Harrison said in a statement, without elaborating on when the roll call is scheduled to begin.
CNN has also reached out to the Biden campaign about the effort.
The heated debate has set up a potentially messy and unseemly clash between factions of the Democratic Party, continuing even as Republicans field new candidates at their convention in Milwaukee this week.
No formal timeline has yet been set, but given serious concerns across the party about whether Biden should remain the Democratic nominee, any move by party leaders to press the gas on the gas to push through Biden’s nomination as quickly as possible would surely provoke further anger, even rebellion.
Those in favor of an early roll call are locked in a fierce debate about what the rules allow and how the party should proceed. Discussions are ongoing over whether to give lawmakers, donors and top surrogates more time to put together a candidate, or whether the party should go ahead with early nominations to avoid “August chaos,” one of the people said.
As the uproar continues, three former chairmen of the Democratic National Committee have backed the process, calling it the “smartest course of action.”
The letter, sent to members of the Democratic National Committee’s Rules Committee on Tuesday and written by former DNC chairs Donna Brazile, Howard Dean and Terry McAuliffe, and obtained by CNN, said, “We believe a virtual process is necessary to ensure that the Democratic candidates for president and vice president appear on the ballot in every state and the District of Columbia without basis for legal challenge before the in-person convention begins in Chicago on August 19, 2024.”
“Any differing approaches risk disenfranchising millions of voters and clouding the path to a Democratic victory,” the former committee chairs added.
Brazile, Dean and McAuliffe, among others, said the virtual roll call “doesn’t need to happen right away,” but it needs to be completed by Aug. 7 to avoid running into potential legal issues related to Biden’s inclusion on the ballot in Ohio.
Asked in an interview with NBC’s Lester Holt on Monday whether he felt he had weathered the political storm following his disastrous performance in last month’s debate, Biden pointed to the primary voters who supported him.
“14 million people elected me to be the Democratic nominee, you know? I’m going to listen to them,” he said.
Since the June 27 CNN debate, growing doubts have begun to grow about whether Biden should continue to run for a second term, shining a bright spotlight on the virtual roll call process, which until last month had received little attention. With Biden’s political future uncertain, there has been confusion and concern among some delegates about the Ohio law that prompted the roll call to proceed before the Democratic National Convention.
Following Biden’s faltering debate performance, Democrats have discussed the possibility of postponing or cancelling the July 21 meeting to try to contain the protests.
But the DNC’s decision to go ahead with its original plan despite recent events has sparked frustration across the Democratic Party, from lawmakers urging Biden to reconsider his candidacy to delegates who want to vote in person, according to three sources with knowledge of the situation.
Meanwhile, some leading Democrats with close ties to the White House have publicly said the official start of the party’s convention in mid-August is the deadline for Biden to decide whether to continue running.
“If he decides later to change his mind, we’ll accommodate that,” Sen. James Clyburn, a South Carolina Democrat, said in a television interview last week. “Our convention has to convene by Aug. 19.”
Multiple sources told CNN that a draft letter being circulated among House Democrats and other representatives asks the party to delay the process.
“This extraordinary and unprecedented action, which will effectively speed up the nomination process by nearly a month, has no legal justification,” the letter said.
Behind the scenes, Democrats who support a quick settlement have suggested that Senator J.D. Vance, who is now officially nominated as Trump’s vice presidential running mate and the Republican Party’s de facto number two, may press for new challenges to Biden’s voting rights in his home state, but state officials have categorically denied this.
“The problem is solved in Ohio, Democratic surrogates know it and they should stop blaming Ohio for their own party’s dysfunction,” Ben Kindel, a spokesman for Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, told CNN.
The letter, drafted by Huffman, acknowledged its authenticity and said it was unclear when it was scheduled to be sent, but acknowledged that the issue had been resolved.
“At this time, there is no serious threat to Democratic candidates who would be nominated in the normal manner at next month’s Democratic National Convention appearing on the ballot in Ohio or any other state,” the letter said.
The draft language is likely to change, but it signals concerns within the party about moving forward with the nomination process while debate over Biden’s future continues.
“The Democratic Party, including not only our elected officials and delegates but also millions of grassroots voters, is currently carefully considering and debating the absolute necessity of defeating Donald Trump and gaining control of Congress,” the letter said. “As Democrats, we represent a range of views on this issue. Some of us call for President Biden to step down, while others urge him to continue the campaign. Additionally, some of us are deeply concerned about the current state of the presidential campaign but have not yet taken a position on what should be done.”
“But what we all agree on is that stifling debate and prematurely blocking any changes to the Democratic nominee in the coming days with an unnecessary and unprecedented ‘virtual roll call’ is a terrible idea with the worst possible timing and the potential to deeply damage Democratic Party morale and unity — from delegates, volunteers, grassroots activists and donors to rank-and-file voters.”
Huffman said in a phone interview Tuesday that members are “running the gamut of the caucus” and that there would be “pretty significant” backlash if the DNC went ahead with its plan.
Huffman noted there is a “big enthusiasm gap” between Trump and Biden and said, “You can’t force energy or enthusiasm,” referring to Biden moving up the polls to formally nominate him.
Huffman said she’s not yet calling for Biden to be replaced, but wants to give the president time to instill confidence in his campaign among Democrats, who would be much harder to replace once Biden is officially the nominee.
“We are hearing the denials and attempts to silence debate,” Huffman said.
During a recent press conference, Biden was asked whether party delegates would be free to vote for a different candidate at their convention if they wanted to.
“That’s the democratic process,” Biden said of the possibility that delegates might change their minds, before adding confidently that “that’s not going to happen.”
This story has been updated with additional reports.
CNN’s Haley Talbot and Lauren Fox contributed to this report.
