Democratic Party officials in critical swing states said the Biden campaign is keeping them in the dark about plans to rehab the president’s befuddled-old-man image, feeding fears that the Biden team is just hunkering down and hoping doubts about his fitness for office just go away.
Officials in several battleground states said they’ve received no direct communication from campaign officials, leaving them without formal guidance on how to talk to voters anxious about President Biden’s messy debate performance.
Preserving support among voters and donors in these states is critical for Mr. Biden, 81, as calls for him to step aside for a younger nominee grow louder each day.
The officials say their states could be winnable for Mr. Biden, but they need help from the campaign to reassure voters after he struggled to give coherent answers during last Thursday’s debate against former President Donald Trump. The strategy blackout raises questions about whether the party is in disarray, they said.
A Democratic county official in Michigan, who agreed to talk on the condition of anonymity, said the lack of instructions has made their job that much harder.
“It’s been radio silence since the debate,” the official told The Washington Times. “We have volunteers putting in over 40 hours a week trying to keep the ship afloat and it’s been crickets. It’s immensely frustrating.”
The official said the outreach is “an easy fix” by the campaign.
“Send out a press release or some bullet points. If you’re not telling your story, someone else is,” the longtime party operative said.
Stanley Forh, chair of the Democratic Party in Putnam County, Georgia, reported a similar experience.
“I’m not hearing anything from the DNC. It concerns me. Being chair, I should have more access to ask questions. I’ve been left out. I would think we’d get more emails or communications,” he said.
Sources within the Democratic National Committee insisted they are constantly communicating with state parties and have been proactive about sending them guidance and fielding questions since the debate.
They say they will continue to send guidance for any major situation, such as a debate, and work with allies on the ground in states.
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The DNC is reaching out to some party officials.
Christine Sinicki, a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly who is chair of the Milwaukee County Democratic Party and a delegate to the party convention, said the Democratic National Committee sent her talking points about how the debate was one bad night and Mr. Biden is still better than the lying Mr. Trump.
She said that’s good enough for her.
“It is a little tougher after the debate but we will up our ground game and get the message out,” Ms. Sinicki said.
Mr. Biden huddled out of sight at Camp David, remaining adamant that he would stay in the race despite last week’s fiasco. He returned to the White House on Monday evening to deliver remarks about the Supreme Court ruling that presidents enjoy “absolute immunity” for official acts, which put on hold Mr. Trump’s federal trial for trying to overturn the 2020 election.
At Camp David, Mr. Biden gathered with his children and grandchildren for a family photo by celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz for use at the Democratic National Convention in August. His family has been encouraging him to stay in the race, according to multiple reports.
On Tuesday, Mr. Biden will try to put the debate debacle behind him and to the business of the presidency. He will participate in a briefing on extreme weather, but he will be under pressure to prove he is coherent. He will likely have the benefit of a teleprompter at the scripted event.
New polling shows the president’s support is eroding since the debate.
A USA Today/Suffolk University Poll released Monday found that 41% of Democrats say the party should replace Mr. Biden as its presidential nominee. That number includes 37% of those who say they plan to vote in November.
By contrast, only 14% of Republicans say Mr. Trump should be replaced as the nominee, including 12% who plan to vote for him.
The same poll found that only 11% of voters say Mr. Biden won the debate.
That’s the second concerning poll in as many days for the Biden team. A CBS News/YouGov poll on Sunday revealed that 72% of registered voters, including 41% of Democrats, do not believe Mr. Biden has the mental and cognitive health to serve as president.
Still, Mr. Biden’s team remains defiant.
Campaign chair Jennifer O’Malley Dillon hosted a call Monday with major donors as members of the party’s National Finance Committee who wonder if their donations are better spent on congressional races as a firewall against a Trump presidency. Several NFC members skipped the conference call, according to a New York Times report.
Meanwhile, the Biden campaign tried to use a TV ad to recover from the debate fumble.
The one-minute ad features a clip of Mr. Biden speaking to North Carolina supporters on Friday, the day after the debate.
“Folks, I know I’m not a young man. But I know how to do this job. I know right from wrong. I know how to tell the truth,” Mr. Biden says with much vigor. “And I know, like millions of Americans know, when you get knocked down, you get back up.”
The ad, titled “I Know,” will run on television and digital platforms with a younger or more diverse audience, including ESPN, TNT, Bravo, FX, Freeform, and Comedy Central.
First lady Jill Biden also aggressively proclaimed that her husband will remain the nominee in a Vogue interview published Monday.
Mrs. Biden said the Biden family “will not let those 90 minutes define the four years he’s been president.”
“We will continue to fight,” she said, adding that Mr. Biden “will always do what’s best for the country.”
• Tom Howell Jr. contributed to this report.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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