A Biden campaign memo made public on Thursday described the debate performance by President Joe Biden as a “setback,” but claimed the president has a “path to victory” that includes Democratic “Blue Wall” states including Pennsylvania.
The memo acknowledged Biden’s poor debate performance resulted in “increased anxiety,” and caused “real movement” away from Biden in the polls, but asserted the race nonetheless “remains a margin-of-error race in key battleground states.”
Despite an internal Democratic debate over whether the 81-year-old president should step aside, the Biden campaign claimed the public reaction to the president’s debate performance on June 27 “is not a sea-change in the state of the race,” and that while some undecided voters moved to former President Donald Trump, “much of the movement was driven by historically Democratic constituencies moving to undecided.”
The Biden campaign claimed it always identified these voters as “key persuasion targets,” and as a result the president maintains “a very real path to consolidating their support” and achieving reelection.
Specifically, the Biden campaign claims the embattled president can secure reelection by winning Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan, called the “Blue Wall” by Democrats.
Biden campaign in a memo lays out the path to victory. Says the focus will be on the "Blue Wall" states — Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania
"Bottom line: No one is denying that the debate was a setback. But Joe Biden and this campaign have made it through setbacks before." pic.twitter.com/Y2n5Xh6shH
— Allan Smith (@akarl_smith) July 11, 2024
Biden’s campaign also tacitly admitted the former president is not favored to win in much of the sunbelt, which includes battleground states including Arizona, North Carolina, and Georgia, as it declared victory in those states is “not out of reach.”
The memo also noted that the June debate leaves plenty of time for the president’s “message to break through” using “trusted messengers and a strong ground game.”
Also, the memo dismissed the idea of attempting to find a replacement for Biden, claiming that such “polling of alternative nominees will always be reliable,” as pollsters are unable to “take into account the negative media environment that any Democratic nominee will encounter.”
After acknowledging the president’s polling disadvantage to Trump, the Biden campaign memo claimed the president would make up losses by campaigning for minority voting blocs
The memo states the Biden campaign “made both the largest and earliest investments into Hispanic, African American, and [Asian American Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders]-owned platforms” to “meet voters where they are.”
While the memo noted its investment in advertising on such platforms, the Biden campaign did not note the president’s recent scripted interview with a radio host at a black-owned radio station in Philadelphia. The host was fired after she confirmed that his campaign provided her questions for the president.
The Biden campaign also confirmed that Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation plan to restructure the federal bureaucracy if Trump is elected in November, is being used against the former president by the Biden campaign in advertisements in which the Democrats assert it “would give Trump limitless power” over the United States government.
Despite the Biden campaign claiming Project 2025 and investments in minority-owned advertising platforms will help it reach voters, the memo called the debate a “setback.”
“No one is denying that the debate was a setback,” the campaign memo acknowledged. Still, those behind Biden’s bid for reelection claimed, “We are clear eyed about what we need to do to win.”
Notably, the memo did not acknowledge the possibility of a lack of enthusiasm around Biden to hurt other candidates, including Senator Bob Casey (D-PA), who repeatedly stressed his close friendship with Biden and assured voters of his fitness prior to the June 27 debate. Casey confirmed his continued support for Biden earlier this week.
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dave McCormick recently accused Casey of helping Democrats to orchestrate a “conspiracy of silence” to protect Biden’s image and also called for White House officials to consider their “responsibility” to invoke the 25th Amendment and remove Biden from office if they determine the president is unable to fulfill his duties.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Joe Biden” by President Joe Biden. Background Photo “Pennsylvania Capitol” by Kumar Appaiah. CC BY-SA 2.0.
The hair ball say….he be out by Monday.