The last 48 hours have seen some extraordinary events take place on the Democratic side.
An incumbent president, already questioned about his health, revealed he had contracted COVID-19 (again).
The top Democrats in the House and Senate, along with a former Democratic speaker of the House, have all told the president that he can't win.
One of the most powerful Democrats in the House, Rep. Adam Schiff, called on Biden to drop his re-election campaign.
One of Biden's most trusted campaign advisors and fundraisers, Hollywood director Jeffrey Katzenberg, reportedly informed Biden that donors would not write any more big checks until he dropped out.
It's now clear to the vast majority of the Democratic Party that he's got to go. But, in the immortal words of the Wicked Witch of the West, "These things must be done delicately." Otherwise, the party could come apart at the seams. And a bitter, resentful Biden might be angry enough at being shunted aside to throw a lit match into a gasoline dump and blow the whole party to hell.
Biden is showing few signs of giving up, which is why this cascade of leaks from top Democrats about private conversations with Biden has become embarrassingly public. A way must be found to reach the president with the hard facts that the game is up and he's got to go.
Senior Democrats started privately circulating jarring numbers from Blue Rose Research, which found that “just 18 percent of voters and only 36 percent of people who voted for Mr. Biden in 2020 believe he is mentally fit and up to the job of being president,” according to the NYT. Other super PAC polling shows “Biden’s deficit growing to 5 percentage points or more in the must-win states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.”
And DNC officials were pressured by their own party into pushing back a virtual roll call nominating Biden after an attempt to move it up was seen as a way of assuring Biden could run out the clock on the Dump Biden crowd.
It should be noted that the Big Three — House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and former Speaker Pelosi — have yet to actually call for Biden's withdrawal from the race. Instead, they have laid out a case for his stepping aside as a lawyer might make a case to the jury.
The reason for that is because Joe Biden is a proud man. "Stiff-necked" wouldn't be inaccurate. Most people his age are. He's spent nearly 50 years in politics before finally grabbing the brass ring and now his beloved Democratic Party has turned on him.
How would you feel?
But time is short, and Biden's feelings are far down the list of concerns for the Democratic leadership, which is seeing any hope of maintaining their majority in the Senate or capturing the House of Representatives turn to dust.
Slowly, painfully, Biden may be getting the message.
CNN’s Jeff Zeleny reported that Biden is more “receptive” to stepping aside than before, asking advisors if VP Kamala Harris could win the general election.
The NYT also reported that Biden has grown “more receptive” to talk of stepping aside.
And with Biden now diagnosed with Covid and forced from public events for a few days, it’s quite possible that he’ll take the time to pause, reflect on the feedback he’s getting and decide whether to change course.
Nancy Pelosi appears to be the linchpin to the "Dump Biden" effort. According to Politico, she was working the phones and privately meeting with Democrats soon after the debate trying to build momentum for a Biden exit. She's been in touch with Barack Obama and has bucked up wavering Democrats when the effort to replace Biden appeared to stall.
She's now on the cusp of achieving a bloodless coup in the Democratic Party, and you have to wonder if some pro-Biden Democrats might have some bitterness at the way the whole thing went down.
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