![Three House Democrats describe chaos within caucus as party navigates Biden concerns](https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/c-wl1-0781.jpg?c=16x9&q=w_800,c_fill)
Three House Democrats describe chaos within caucus as party navigates Biden concerns
CNN
Three House Democratic lawmakers say they have been besieged with hundreds of texts, phones ringing off the hook and numerous video calls as the party looks to blunt the fallout from President Joe Biden’s disastrous debate performance last week and determine what’s next ahead of November.
Three House Democratic lawmakers say they have been besieged with hundreds of texts, phones ringing off the hook and numerous video calls as the party looks to blunt the fallout from President Joe Biden’s disastrous debate performance last week and determine what’s next ahead of November. The lawmakers, speaking on the condition of anonymity with CNN’s Jake Tapper, painted a feverish mood within the House Democratic Caucus as Biden has privately acknowledged that the next stretch of days is crucial to his campaign as he faces a growing number of calls to step aside as the party’s presumptive presidential nominee or risk the party’s chances of keeping the White House and winning back control of the House. “The phones don’t stop ringing. Everyone is talking,” one House Democrat told Tapper, pointing to polling that shows the president’s waning popularity and the prevailing fear that Biden remaining at the top of the ticket could negatively affect House races. “Polling of House members is cratering. We all are out-performing the president, but that’s not sustainable,” the member said. Another House Democrat said one of Biden’s answers during the debate – which ultimately ended in confused silence – made them “get up and leave.” “My blood pressure went through the roof. I went into the other room and had a glass of wine. The president’s performance was so bad so early, it was the first time I thought I could lose my race as well,” the second House Democrat said. A third House Democrat said they had believed the Biden campaign and the White House when they publicly lauded the president as healthy — until they watched the debate.
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Paul Whelan calls on Biden to treat his case as ‘he would do if his own son were being held hostage’
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If there’s one thing that American voters overwhelmingly agree on, it’s that this year’s presidential election presents a stark choice. In the latest CNN poll by SSRS, 91% of registered voters say they see important differences between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, dwarfing even the 77% of voters who said last fall that there were significant divides between the Democratic and Republican parties. Even among the so-called “double haters” – those with unfavorable views of both Biden and Trump – only 20% say that the two candidates are pretty much the same.