As Democrats in California and across the country scramble to decide if they want President Joe Biden to remain in the race, a concerned U.S. Rep. Mike Levin of San Juan Capistrano had two options: Speak out, or hold back.
Both were the wrong choice in the eyes of the Republicans seeking to unseat him in November in one of California’s swingiest districts.
When Levin initially held his tongue on Biden’s future after a disastrous June 27 debate performance, the National Republican Congressional Committee blasted his “deafening” silence. And when Levin publicly called for Biden to drop out — the only California Democrat from a battleground district to do so yet — his GOP opponent Matt Gunderson deemed it a “sudden” tactic to distance himself from Biden.
Tying Democrats to an increasingly unpopular president who now faces backlash within his own party, Republicans have seized onto the Democratic splinters over Biden as an opportunity to attack their opponents in key California congressional districts, where election outcomes hinge largely on voter turnout and could help decide which party controls the U.S. House, as they did for the GOP in 2022.
The pressure on swing district Democrats is only intensifying as a growing coalition of Democrats — many of whom are from California — are calling for Biden’s exit, not only worried that he can’t win in November, but that he will drag down House and Senate candidates with him.
On Wednesday, Rep. Adam Schiff of Burbank, who is running for the U.S. Senate, urged Biden to “pass the torch” and step aside. His public declaration followed a warning to donors at a Saturday fundraiser that Biden…
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