Dem Lawmakers Are Blowing the Whistle on Biden and the Mess at the WH: 'Rudderless, Aimless, Hopeless'

Democrats are in a desperate state, knowing they’re about to get wiped out in November and they’re looking to cast blame.

Many, including more than two dozen lawmakers and political operatives, are talking and blowing the whistle on how bad they think Joe Biden is.

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They don’t feel that Biden is doing enough to reflect their anger and concerns about things; they want strength and action. But they’re not seeing it.

“Biden’s response … seemed flat to many Democrats. And there is fear the piecemeal [gun safety] bill didn’t just sap momentum to continue addressing gun violence but was already giving cover to Republicans. Following the shooting, they worried that it was another lost opportunity to define the stakes of the upcoming midterms. … [Some Democrats] fear that Biden remains trapped in a prior age of political decorum and unquestioning fealty to institutions and has been slow to recognize both the existential threat felt by some of his supporters.”

CAMILLE RIVERA, a Democratic strategist at New Deal Strategies: “He’s missing the boat here. This is our time to dig in and be absolutely furious because these one-half measures are not working. He’s got a real excitability problem.”

SARAH LONGWELL, an anti-Trump and moderate GOP strategist: “You can’t just hold one press conference or give one speech. It’s constant communication. [Democrats] feel a sense of urgency. … ‘Talk to us. Tell us what the plan is.’”

Rivera continued, “The fight is for independents and Democrats to get up and fight back and come out. And he is not meeting the moment. He has to meet the moment.”

Their take is funny because Biden is frequently angry and always blaming other people, including Republicans. They’re making the wrong diagnosis of the problems. One of the problems is that he never takes responsibility for anything. That’s one of the things that Americans are upset about. But it’s hard to overcome just failing across the board on every policy, especially with the economy. Democratic officials are just noticing now that Biden comes across as half-dead and unable to muster up any energy to do anything? But they already knew that when they put him forward. It’s their fault. They bought this sinking ship and now they’re upset that they’re being done in by him, that people are rejecting the bad product that they were sold and blaming them for it. There’s only so much you can spin total failure.

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Meanwhile, the Democrats who are squawking are throwing the names of Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and California Gov. Gavin Newsom around as people they think are showing a more combative attitude. So they’re undercutting Biden right in front of him when they do this but their backup choices are a guy who is so despised he faced a recall. Some bench there, guys. Notice how they’re not talking up the name of Kamala in this mix, in part because she’s bad too — and now she’s tainted with Biden’s failures as well.

ADAM JENTLESON, former top aide to HARRY REID: “There is a leadership vacuum right now, and [Biden’s] not filling it. … I sympathize with the argument that there’s very little they can do legislatively. But in moments of crisis, the president is called upon to be a leader. And when people are feeling scared and angry and outraged, they look to him for that, and they’re not getting much.”

— On the stakes: “In the view of many distraught Democrats, the country is facing a full-blown crisis on a range of fronts, and Biden seems unable or unwilling to respond with appropriate force. Democracy is under direct attack, they say, as Republicans change election rules and the Supreme Court rapidly rewrites American law. Shooting sprees are routine, abortion rights have ended and Democrats could suffer big losses in the next election.”

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One member termed Biden’s White House as “‘rudderless, aimless and hopeless.'” Two dozen Democratic lawmakers and political operatives said they thought it came down to “questions of basic management.” Among the problems they don’t feel they’re getting anything back from the White House when they try to get answers on action plans.

“Multiple Democratic politicians who have reached out to work with Biden — whether it’s on specific bills, brainstorming or outreach — often don’t hear anything back at all. Potential appointees have languished for months waiting to hear if they’ll get jobs, or when they’ll be done with vetting. Invitations to events are scarce, thank you calls barely happen. Even some aides within the White House wonder why Biden didn’t fire anyone, from the West Wing or at the Food and Drug Administration, to demonstrate some accountability or at least anger over the baby formula debacle.”

Even on the question of the recent SCOTUS decision overturning Roe v. Wade, which everyone knew was coming, Democrats feel Biden’s response was ridiculous — the White House had told people there wasn’t going to be a decision on that day. So when it came through, it appeared no one was ready and Biden’s response wasn’t good.

Several Democratic leaders privately mocked how the president stood in the foyer of the White House, squinting through his remarks from a teleprompter as demonstrators poured into the streets, making only vague promises of action because he and aides hadn’t decided on more.”

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You know that whole suspend the gas tax thing that Biden came out with at the end of last month that was immediately mocked? That was the result of months of deliberations by Biden. Seriously — it’s that bad.

“It had the appearance of throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing what sticks,” one official said privately.

Sources also say that decisions in the White House are getting bottlenecked, as veteran advisers urge Biden to take the long view, rather than focus on fast responses. Few are trying, and even fewer succeeding, in pushing back against Biden’s infamous inability to settle on decisions, on everything from whether to lift tariffs on Chinese imports or cancel student loan debt.

So in addition to the gaffes, the confusion, the lack of energy, and the failure, Biden also is incapable of making even the simplest of decisions without months of discussion? And even then, he has to know that it’s a pointless exercise as Congress isn’t likely to pass a suspension of the gas tax. Now after having said it, the Biden team isn’t even pushing it. Because it was just about the political show that he was “doing something.”

No wonder Democrats are in a quandary. But it’s all on them and this has revealed how broken they are as a party. Americans have seen it and they’re going to have something to say, in a big way, in November.

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