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By Alex Cunningham
Cronkite News
WASHINGTON – Phoenix Rep. Greg Stanton of Phoenix on Thursday joined a growing chorus of congressional Democrats calling on President Joe Biden to end his reelection effort, as Republicans unleash a torrent of attacks aimed at capitalizing on the president’s struggles.
In Arizona’s closely watched Senate race, Kari Lake hit Rep. Ruben Gallego for failing to repudiate Biden since a debate two weeks ago in which the 81-year-old Biden repeatedly lost his train of thought and appeared to stare blankly.
“Joe Biden is 100% gone, and Ruben Gallego votes with Biden 100% of the time. Sleepy Joe and Radical Ruben – Arizonans deserve better than this train wreck,” the narrator says in Lake’s ad.
Rep. Raúl Grijalva of Tucson was the second House Democrat to call for Biden to end his reelection bid. A week later, as Democrats’ fears boiled, Stanton and several others from around the country joined the chorus. One Washington state Democrat hinted that Biden should step down as president.
“Donald Trump poses an existential threat to our Constitution and the rule of law,” Stanton said in a statement posted to social media, adding that Democrats need “a nominee who can effectively make the case against Trump” and who can “handle the rigors of the hardest job on the planet for the next four years. … It is time for the President to step aside as our nominee.”
Gallego – unopposed in the July 30 Democratic primary for the seat being vacated by Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz. – has distanced himself somewhat from Biden. But he has stopped well short of calling for Biden to step aside.
Arizona voters “want to see proof” that Biden’s “up for the job,” Gallego told Business Insider on Wednesday.
A day earlier Rep. Juan Ciscomani, R-Tucson, launched an attack on Democratic challenger Kirsten Engel similar to Lake’s attack on Gallego.
“Where do you stand, Kirsten Engel? Joe or no Joe?” the narrator asks. The ad shows her sitting, mouth closed, as crickets chirp to represent her silence on whether Biden should remain as the Democratic nominee.
Through Thursday afternoon, one Democratic senator and 13 House members had gone public to that effect.
The spokesman for Biden’s campaign in Arizona, Jacques Petit, responded to Stanton’s call by citing job growth and other achievements, and attacking Trump as a threat to abortion rights and democracy. “That’s what’s at stake for Arizonans in this election and why we must stand with President Biden and stop Donald Trump,” he said.
Engel’s campaign did not respond when asked whether she thinks Biden should end his reelection bid and be replaced as the nominee.
“Engel’s refusal to comment on Biden’s obvious cognitive decline is a slap in the face to Southern Arizonans who deserve basic honesty,” National Republican Congressional Committee West spokesperson Ben Petersen said in a news release.
Stan Barnes, a former Arizona House GOP member and now a political consultant, described the ads as a “tried and true strategy.”
“If you think Joe Biden’s incompetent or mentally unavailable,” down-ballot candidates who haven’t distanced themselves from Biden could be hard to support, said Barnes, owner of Copper State Consulting Group. “Democrats are going to be on the defensive all the way down the line, and I think it’s going to have a real impact on the outcome.”
The NRCC has been trying to use Biden to embarrass the half-dozen Democrats vying to topple Rep. David Schweikert, R-Fountain Hills, in an especially competitive district.
Conor O’Callaghan and Andrei Cherny have publicly voiced support for Biden since the debate. Kurt Kroemer told Cronkite News he is standing by the president.
“He is the Democratic nominee. He went through all the primary process, 87% of the people voted for him,” Kroemer said. “If you’re entrusting the future of this country to Donald Trump and his ilk, I think you’re missing something.”
Marlene Galán-Woods sidestepped the issue of Biden’s future, telling the Arizona Republic she is focused on her own bid for office. Two other Democrats in the race, Amish Shah and Andrew Horne, have yet to comment and did not respond to requests.
Petersen framed support for Biden as a “litmus test” in the Democratic primary.
Polling has shown Biden has slid further behind Trump in Arizona since the debate, though only marginally. Biden carried the state by about 10,000 votes in 2020.
The nonpartisan Cook Political Report shifted its assessment of Arizona from “toss-up” to “Lean Republican” on Tuesday.
A Washington Post/ABC News/Ipsos poll published Thursday found that 56% of Democrats nationwide believe Biden should step aside.
Arizona Democrats in Congress are divided on the president’s viability in November.
Sen. Mark Kelly told Cronkite News unequivocally that “he is our nominee.” He said Biden has “a very strong record to run on,” and predicted the ballot measure to codify abortion rights in Arizona will drive Democrats to the polls.
Democrats in vulnerable seats across the country fear that having Biden at the top of the ticket will sink their chances, and many had distanced themselves even before the debate.
Some political experts said their worries may be overblown.
Many voters, especially in swing states, balance their ticket with a vote for a presidential candidate of one party and a senator or congressman from the other, said Miles Coleman at the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics.
“There is a certain subset of voters … in a state like Arizona that likes this concept of balance. Maybe if Biden is perceived as the underdog that could help Gallego win,” he said.
Stacy Pearson, a Democratic consultant at Lumen Strategies, agreed.
“Arizona voters have always been unpredictable and always been defiant of straight-party tickets,” she said.
Barnes sees Trump as too unusual for traditional expectations of voter behavior, though.
“He makes his own political weather. He is his own political science experiment,” Barnes said. And Biden’s struggles are so big, he added, it’s unsurprising to see Democrats “kicking into political survival (mode).”
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