Pennsylvania Democratic Party Chair Sharif Street told The Tribune he has not been party to “any formal discussions” about whether the president should step aside. He tries to focus his conversations around the work done by the Biden-Harris administration, and comparing it to the four years of Trump. — TRIBUNE PHOTO / ABDUL SULAYMAN
by Marco Cerino, PHILADELPHIA TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
The discourse around the viability of President Joe Biden to win a second term in office has started to fall along racial lines. Despite Whites in Congress and significant donors calling for the 81-year-old to leave the ticket over health concerns, Black voters have continued to support Biden’s desire to finish the job.
Alarm bells within the Democratic ranks started to sound after the incumbent’s struggles in the first Presidential debate on June 27 in Atlanta.
The clanging has been joined by a growing number of voices, fundraisers and legislators, asking if Biden is fit for four more years. Voters do not seem convinced either as the national average, as tracked by political website 538, has seen Trump’s lead grow from 0.2% on the day of the debate to 2.6% as of Thursday.
A virtual meeting scheduled for Friday that would seemingly solidify Biden as the presidential candidate has been pushed back to early August. While all this happens, Republicans have rallied around Trump and his pick for vice president, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance.
A survey completed by left-wing think tank Data for Progress and analysis website Split Ticket found that Biden still enjoys substantial support among Black voters in seven battleground states, including Pennsylvania. Around 1,011 voters polled last weekend gave Biden a 72% favorability rating and a 76-17 lead in a head-to-head over Trump.
“It’s a very different perspective,” said Pam Gibson, a committee person in the 36th Ward’s 36th Division who will travel to Chicago as an elected delegate in August. “I hear the conversations. I’m not looking for a performance from the president.”
Gibson is working with the campaign as a project manager and helping to launch a group for persons with disabilities to support the incumbents.
Three of five Black Democrats support Biden staying on the ticket, according to the polling. Gibson acknowledged that some people disapprove of the president’s response to the situation in Gaza and other aspects of the administration. She points to her experiences as a caregiver and working with Social Security for her mother as reasons to support Biden-Harris.
“My conversations are not heated,” she said. “You have to look at personal experiences. Those conversations are welcome, but we have to come together as Democrats for our leader-in-chief.”
Pennsylvania Democratic Party Chair Sharif Street told The Tribune he has not been party to “any formal discussions” about whether the president should step aside. He tries to focus his conversations around the work done by the Biden-Harris administration in comparison to the four years of Trump. Vance’s boasts about his grandmother losing loaded guns around the house rubbed Street the wrong way, as he is often comforting grieving families who lost a loved one to acts of violence from lost or stolen guns.
“Biden-Harris are our nominees until they’re not, unless they’re not,” Street told The Tribune in an interview Thursday. “People are easily distracted by how quickly did he walk up or down the steps, or how loudly did he project his voice. I think focusing on the substance of his record and his accomplishments is something we have to be vigilant of reminding people.
“What changes the average person’s life is not who can talk louder or who can run up steps faster, but who can govern in a way that provides more opportunities,” he added.
Biden has enjoyed support from Black Philadelphians, who elected him in record numbers in 2020. Most recently, he joined the Mt. Airy Church of God in Christ for Sunday services, where he made a speech for the congregation. His favorability rating of 72% among the polled Black voters is much higher than his approval rating of 40 percent from a recent poll by YouGov and the Economist.
While Biden has won the Democratic primaries by popular vote, his replacement would likely be chosen by the delegates at the Democratic National Convention next month. Street would not commit to any of the names bandied about to replace Biden atop the ticket, including Vice President Kamala Harris. He did say, for the record, “If President Biden steps aside, when we select our next nominee, we should seriously consider selecting somebody younger than he is.”
mcerino@phillytrib.com 215-893-5700
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