MADISON — Joe Biden is pondering his political future amid calls from within his party to abandon reelection, but the 81-year-old Democratic president made a key stop in the battleground state on Friday to signal his determination to see the campaign through to the end.
Biden is scheduled to visit Madison, Wisconsin's voting center, hold a rally at a city middle school and tape a prime-time interview with ABC designed to address national concerns about declining intelligence.
Biden's speaking pause, perhaps his most significant of the campaign, comes as the president continues to fend off concerns from Democratic donors and political allies about whether he can defeat Republican nominee Donald Trump and serve another four years in office following a stunning debate performance in which he lost steam and spoke incoherently at times.
Democratic governors who met with Biden at a meeting to evaluate the president on Wednesday said they supported the president, including Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, the only governor who did not attend the meeting. But on Thursday, The New York Times reported that major Democratic donors are launching a pressure campaign calling for Biden to resign.
But the Biden campaign has portrayed a united team that is ignoring efforts to switch candidates, and a memo released to reporters by a Wisconsin campaign official revealed that surrogates from key states plan to attend.
“President Biden will visit Madison on his fifth visit to Wisconsin this year and will underscore the importance of this election as Donald Trump becomes increasingly extreme and erratic,” the memo said.
“Over the past few weeks, Wisconsin leaders have continued to show their strong support for President Biden, with Governor Tony Evers, Congressman Mark Pocan, Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway, Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler and several others planning to join President Biden in Madison.”
Evers, in particular, is a key Biden ally and recently garnered 51% approval from Wisconsin voters in a Marquette University Law School poll, a nearly unheard-of mark in the politically divided state.
But absent was the state's top Democrat, Sen. Tammy Baldwin, who avoided accompanying Biden on his recent visit and was scheduled to campaign in northern Wisconsin on Friday.
Baldwin last appeared with Biden at the State of the Union address in Washington, D.C., in March, when she was among the delegation escorting the president to the House of Representatives floor.
Biden is expected to face at least some protesters. A coalition of Palestinian advocacy groups plans to rally at Northside Middle School to protest Biden's visit, according to an Instagram post from the Madison chapter of Students for Palestine Justice, the Wisconsin Palestine Justice Coalition and Listen to Wisconsin. The groups will assemble at the intersection in front of the school. “If you wish there had been a different candidate, now is your chance to voice your concerns,” the post said.
But supporters invited to the Madison event had no doubt that Biden would remain their party's presidential nominee.
“I don't understand why this is even being talked about,” Nancy Locante of Kenosha told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “We're all rooting for Joe.” Lynn Dahl, 66, blamed Biden's debate performance on a long list of false claims made by former President Donald Trump. “I think he was confronted with lies and that infuriated him,” Dahl said. “If someone confronted me with that amount of lies, I'd be confused.” Amber Cohen, 41, of Madison, said she would vote for the Democratic candidate no matter what, but said putting someone else on the ticket this late in the race was a “terrible idea.” “I've been a Democrat ever since I understood what a Democrat was, but I feel like this is really important,” Cohen said. “I'm pretty tired of people constantly questioning Biden's age as if that's an issue and not focusing on the string of lies he's faced.”
Ahead of the Madison visit, Wisconsin Republican Party Chairman Brian Schimming said the Biden campaign had gone from “confidence to disaster to crisis” over the past 10 days, citing Biden's debate performance and Democrats' efforts since then to shore up support for the president.
“The Democratic Party is in disarray right now both nationally and in Wisconsin.”
Mr. Schimming said Mr. Biden's visit to one of the state's largest Democratic bases was not an attempt to garner support but an attempt to “save the campaign,” suggesting Democrats were calling for Mr. Biden to be removed as the top candidate.
“Given the current circumstances, and the current turmoil in the campaign and within the Democratic Party, this may be the last time Joe Biden appears in Madison and Wisconsin as the candidate.”
Wisconsin Democratic Party Chairman Ben Wikler, in an interview with the Journal Sentinel ahead of the event, predicted Biden would be “a big hit” with the speech. “My message to voters who are trying to figure out their path forward is, tune in to the president's speech in Madison today. Look at him on the campaign trail. Look at the passion and energy that voters saw in North Carolina last week,” Wikler said.The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Lawrence Andrea contributed to this report.
Molly Beck can be contacted at molly.beck@jrn.com.
