First U.S. senator to do so – Biden resolute to run for second term
By Guy Page
In a commentary published in the Washington Post yesterday, U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vermont) became the first Democratic U.S. senator to call for President Joseph Biden to withdraw from the race for president.
Eight House members and many Democratic Party operatives have called for Biden to withdraw from the race and allow Democratic Party officials to pursue another nominee before or during the August 19-22 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, however, believes Biden can beat Trump and that policy, not a candidate’s physical condition, should drive the party’s choice of a nominee (see YouTube short video).
The Welch op-ed is behind the newspaper’s omnipresent paywall. “We need him to put us first, as he has before,” reads the subtitle for the brief op-ed calling for Biden to put the country’s needs before his personal preferences.
Welch said:
“I have great respect for President Biden. He saved our country from a tyrant. He is a man of uncommon decency. He cares deeply about our democracy. He has been one of the best presidents of our time.
“But I, like folks across the country, am worried about November’s election. The stakes could not be higher. We cannot unsee President Biden’s disastrous debate performance. We cannot ignore or dismiss the valid questions raised since that night.
“I understand why President Biden wants to run. He saved us from Donald Trump once and wants to do it again. But he needs to reassess whether he is the best candidate to do so. In my view, he is not.
“For the good of the country, I’m calling on President Biden to withdraw from the race.”
Welch’s comments are consistent with his initial response to the June 27 debate, which he shared at a UVM journalism conference the next morning:
Sanders took a different tack July 7 on CBS’s ‘Face The Nation.’
“President Biden can clearly defeat Donald Trump, the most dangerous president in the history of this country. And the choice is quite clear. You got in Trump, somebody wants to take away a woman’s right to control her body, who thinks that climate change is a hoax, And it has turned his back on the working class of this country. And on the other side, you have Joe Biden, first president in American history to walk a picket line; we have put more money into fighting climate change than any time in the history of this country; we’re rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure.
“I’ve already done six events in Wisconsin, we’ve been to New York, I’ve been to Ohio. And let’s- let me say this, and maybe the most important point, Bob [Costa, FTN host], I want to make this morning: what we’re talking about now is not a Grammy Award contest for best singer. Biden is old, he’s not as articulate as he once was. I wish he could jump up the steps on Air Force One. He can’t. What we have got to focus on is policy. Whose policies have and will benefit the vast majority of the people in this country?”