By Richard Cowan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – At least three Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives planned to sign a letter protesting a plan to speed up the party’s certification of the presidential election. Joe Biden‘s re-election bid, the lawmakers’ offices said Tuesday.
These Democrats are protesting the party’s decision to hold a “virtual vote” on Biden’s nomination as early as July 21, rather than waiting until the Democratic National Convention in Chicago from August 19 to 22.
Democratic Reps. Susan Wild, Mike Quigley and Jared Huffman plan to sign the letter, representatives for both lawmakers said when contacted by Reuters.
“Stifling debate and prematurely blocking potential changes to the Democratic ticket with an unnecessary and unprecedented ‘virtual roll call’ in the coming days is a terrible idea,” a copy of the draft letter seen by Reuters said. “It could seriously undermine the morale and unity of Democrats.”
The effort is separate from that of the 19 Democrats in Congress who have called on Biden, 81, to end his campaign after a stuttering June 27 debate performance against his Republican challenger Donald Trumpbut there remained unrest in the incumbent’s party about his campaign.
US Representative Adam SchiffA California Democrat running in his state’s Senate primary, who was not among the 19, warned donors in a private meeting that his party would likely suffer major losses if Biden continued his re-election bid, the New York Times reported Tuesday. A spokesman for Schiff’s campaign declined to comment.
Last month’s debate raised concerns within the party about both Biden’s ability to defeat Trump and his fitness to hold the stressful job for another four years.
Thirty-nine percent of Democratic respondents in a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted Tuesday said they believe Biden should end his race for the White House, up slightly from 32% who said so in a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted a few days after the debate.
According to congressional sources, the letter has not yet been sent to the DNC and is being widely circulated among Democrats in the House of Representatives.
Democrats fear that a poor performance by Biden in the Nov. 5 election could cost their party not only control of the White House but also both chambers of Congress, paving the way for a second Trump administration that could pursue its policy goals with virtually no Democratic opposition.
Republicans followed their party’s standard procedure and officially nominated Trump at their party convention in Milwaukee on Monday.
There is speculation that if Biden withdraws from his re-election campaign, the Democratic Party could coalesce around Vice President Kamala Harris as the presidential nominee.
However, some Democrats could push for a more open process, allowing other potential candidates to file less than three months before the general election.
There were concerns that the Democratic convention in August would come too late to nominate a candidate to put that candidate on the Ohio ballot.
The letter to the DNC argued that Ohio has passed legislation to remove this hurdle, making the virtual roll call vote in July unnecessary.
(Reporting by Richard Cowan; additional reporting by Rami Ayyub and Makini Brice; editing by Scott Malone and Alistair Bell)
