Pennsylvania Democrats are featured in a new ad pushing President Joe Biden to end his reelection campaign.
A group called Pass the Torch is spending $36,000 to air an ad on MSNBC’s Morning Joe on Monday in both Washington, D.C. and Delaware. Morning Joe is reportedly must-watch TV for Biden.
The ad follows a #PassTheTorch Saturday rally outside the White House featuring chants of “Hey, hey! Ho, ho! Thank you Joe, it’s time to go.”
On Sunday, Democrat-turned-independent U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia echoed the rally’s message. “I came to the decision with a heavy heart that it’s time to pass the torch to a new generation,” Manchin told CNN.
The TV ad airing Monday morning “features Democratic voters from Pennsylvania urging President Biden to step aside for a new nominee,” according to Pass The Torch.
Pass the Torch calls itself a network of “activists, organizers, and voters” who believe that it’s imperative for Democrats to have a ticket that can beat Donald Trump. Democratic activist Charlie Bulman, who worked as a Biden campaign organizer in Pennsylvania in 2020, attended the #PassTheTorch White House rally.
“I just think it’s clear that the president is not going to be up to do the job for another four years, that his candidacy is not putting us in the best position to win,” Bulman told the progressive news site Mother Jones. And, he added, he has concerns about what backing Biden will do to down-ballot candidates.
Bulman worries about the impact of Biden’s campaign on down-ballot races and the party’s credibility. “I think it puts other folks in a tough position defending his competency,” he said. “And I think that they might lose trust among voters if they’re forced to do that.”
Biden has lagged behind Trump in the polls for months while other Democrats have polled better. The RealClearPolitics average puts Trump ahead of Biden by 4.5 percent in Pennsylvania. That includes an Emerson College poll released last week giving the Republican a five-point lead, which is outside the margin of error.
The super PAC’s website cited a “stunning crisis of faith” in Biden after his terrible showing at last month’s debate against Trump.
Biden gave rambling answers at the debate, then failed to alleviate concerns during an interview on NBC. Earlier this month, he called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “President Putin” and Vice President Kamala Harris “Vice President Trump” at a NATO press conference.
A Philadelphia radio show host who interviewed Biden after the debate later resigned after it was revealed she used questions given to her by the Biden campaign. A Milwaukee radio show host also said Biden’s campaign supplied him with questions for an interview.
That’s enough for Pass the Torch leaders, who include Rhode Island state Sen. Tiara Mack and Public Citizen Senior Climate Policy Counsel Aaron Regunberg. They blame Biden’s team for protecting him “for years” from live and unscripted interviews.
As of Sunday morning, 36 congressional Democrats have publicly called for Biden to withdraw from the 2024 campaign. But Biden’s campaign insists he’s not leaving, releasing a letter from the Democratic state party chairs in seven swing states — including Pennsylvania’s Sharif Street — urging Biden to stay in the race.
“As we enter the final 100-day stretch, President Biden has proven he can beat Donald Trump if we all do the work,” the party chairs wrote.
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