Dems return to Tammany Hall tactics with backroom dealings to boot Biden

As Democratic powerbrokers attempt to pressure President Joe Biden into bowing out of reelection, his departure could set up a messy selection process for his replacement that circumvents the primary electorate and threatens to send the party back to the days of Tammany Hall.

Biden, 81, has faced calls to step aside as the party nominee in the wake of his disastrous performance in a CNN presidential debate against former President Donald Trump. During that event, Biden often appeared lost on stage and stumbled over both stairs and his answers, which reignited longstanding concerns over his age, mental acuity, and fitness for office.

Should Biden opt to step aside, it is far from certain that Vice President Kamala Harris would be the automatic stand-in on the party ticket. The imminent approach of the party convention, moreover, could lead to last-minute jockeying for the top slot.

For much of the 19th and 20th centuries, Democratic Party politics were dominated by Tammany Hall, a New York City-based executive committee that maintained political control through mafia-like tactics and behind-the-scenes power-broking. 

A potentially brokered convention post-primary with little voter influence could see the party return to such machine politics, an ironic development in light of the party’s repeated insistence that Trump, the Republican nominee, represents a “threat to Democracy.”

"President Biden's campaign manager saying he is absolutely staying in the Presidential race sets the stage for a drama of 'the bosses versus Biden'," former House Speaker Newt Gingrich posted on Friday. "He got 14,500,000 votes in the primaries. The bosses got zero."

"The spirit of Tammany Hall has returned to the Democratic Party as Boss Pelosi, Boss Obama, Boss Schumer and Boss Jeffries seek to repudiate over 14 million Democrats and replace the sitting President," he continued. "There is no precedent for Washington bosses throwing out the votes of the American people to impose their will on the nation."

Heavy hitters seeking his ouster

Major Democratic lawmakers have publicly called on Biden to step aside, while several more power brokers have reportedly done so in private. Thus far, however, those seeking his ouster remain a minority.

Among the most high profile lawmakers urging Biden to step aside are Democratic Sens. Jon Tester of Montana and Peter Welch of Vermont. Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., this week also called on Biden to “pass the torch,” warning that "[a] second Trump presidency will undermine the very foundation of our democracy, and I have serious concerns about whether the President can defeat Donald Trump in November."

Reports also emerged this week that Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., had shown Biden unfavorable polling data while Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer had privately urged Biden to reconsider his election bid.

Biden not leaving

But Biden, the White House, and his campaign have been adamant that he has no plans to step aside and will carry forward to the general election.

Campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon on Friday asserted that "Absolutely the president is in this race, you've heard him say that time and time again… He is the best person to take on Donald Trump."

"That is not happening, period," White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said of plans for Biden to exit the race. "The individuals making those claims are not speaking for his family or his team – and they will be proven wrong. Keep the faith."

Biden himself wrote to Democratic lawmakers earlier this month.

"Let me say this clear as I can. I’m staying in the race,” he wrote. “I wouldn’t be running again if I did not absolutely believe I was the best person to beat Donald Trump in 2024.”

The “voters voted”

“Joe Biden is going to be the Democratic nominee, period. End of story. Voters voted. He won overwhelmingly,” the campaign declared in late June.

Though the Democratic National Convention has yet to formally declare Biden the party nominee, the process has essentially concluded. Biden won every nominating contest with the notable exception of American Samoa.

Facing challenges from Minnesota Democratic Rep. Dean Phillips and Hollywood guru Marianne Williamson, Biden overwhelmingly won the most delegates in the primary, notching 3,896 of the necessary 1,976. “Uncommitted” trailed with a mere 36 while Phillips placed third with only four.

Writing to Capitol Hill Democrats earlier this month, Biden highlighted his performance in the primary, asserting that “the voters have spoken clearly and decisively.”

“I received over 14 million votes, 87% of the votes cast across the entire nominating process. I have nearly 3,900 delegates, making me the presumptive nominee of our party by a wide margin,” he said. “This was a process open to anyone who wanted to run. Only three people chosen to challenge me. One fared so badly that he left the primaries to run as an independent. Another attacked me for being too old and was soundly defeated.”

“The voters of the Democratic Party have voted. They have chosen me to be the nominee of the party,” he went on. “Do we now just say this process didn’t matter? That the voters don’t have a say? I decline to do that.”

Biden’s gaffes and age concerns aren’t new

While Biden’s awkward and stumbling answers during the debate have been widely cited as the immediate impetus for the calls to stand aside, such mannerisms from the president are hardly new and neither are concerns over his age. The only new thing is mainstream media finally broke their silence on the issue after Biden's disastrous debate performance.

New York magazine's Olivia Nuzzi, a long-time Democratic stalwart, wrote that there was a "conspiracy of silence" regarding Biden's infirmities, and that although reporters knew about Biden's issues, they refused to acknowledge it to readers for fear of echoing "right-wing media." 

The president’s reference to a candidate who “attacked me for being too old” was an apparent knock at Phillips, who repeatedly highlighted Biden’s age throughout the campaign. Phillips in January told Axios he believed that Biden would be unable to complete another term in office.

"At that stage of life, it is impossible ultimately to conduct, to prosecute the office of the American presidency in the way that this country in the world needs right now,” he said. “That is an absolute truth."

Biden’s penchant for making awkward gaffes or telling questionable stories, moreover, is a longstanding matter, and significantly predates the 2024 Democratic primary.

The University of California at Santa Barbara catalogued his record of plagiarism and fabrications going back to at least the 1980s, including allegations from the Trump camp that as a student at Syracuse Law School in 1965, Biden plagiarized five pages from a law review journal "without quotation or attribution."

During his failed 1988 presidential campaign, Biden plagiarized from speeches by British politician Neil Kinnock, Robert Kennedy, and President John F. Kennedy.

His awkward utterances, moreover, have been so frequent that Trump has compiled them for campaign materials, last month releasing a supercut of Biden’s awkward phrasings.

"America is a nation that can be defined in a single word: aseemfhuuthimaafuutheemscuseme," he said in one. "All men and women created by the go you know... you know the thing," Biden said in another.

Current polling looks bad, but it’s only July

Polling data currently show Trump with a modest lead over Biden, earning 47.7% support to the incumbent’s 44.7% in the RealClearPolitics polling average.

But July polling has generally not reflected the overall outcome of the November election. At this point in 2020, for instance, Biden led Trump by 8.6%, but only won by about 4.5%. 

In 2016, moreover, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton led Trump by 2.7% in the same metric. Though she ultimately won the popular vote by roughly 2.1%, Trump won the election.

Key blocs are lining up behind Biden

Even with Democratic calls for Biden to step aside growing, some key Democratic blocs have lined up behind the incumbent president, potentially reinforcing his resolution to remain in the race.

BOLD PAC, the political wing of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, on Friday offered its endorsement to the commander-in-chief, with PAC chair Rep. Linda Sánchez, D-Calif., saying “President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have delivered for the Latino community and CHC BOLD PAC is proud to endorse them for re-election,” according to The Hill.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., meanwhile, held an Instagram Live on Thursday evening in which she insisted that those pushing for Biden to leave the ticket would not necessarily support Harris for the ticket.

“If you think that there is consensus among the people who want Joe Biden to leave that they will support Vice President Harris, you would be mistaken,” she said, according to The Hill. “A lot of people don’t love that we have the same exact match-up all over again, which is to say that the debate didn’t change much at all. It didn’t really change a lot in terms of people’s perceptions, in terms of where the electorate is at and going into the debate.”

She further warned that replacing Biden could prompt Republican legal challenges to the choice of another nominee.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X.