Remember that few Democratic elected officials or left-leaning groups have called for Biden to step aside. So how did this become such a national conversation? In my view, left-leaning and centrist columnists and commentators from the Bulwark, CNN, MSNBC, the New York Times, Pod Save America and The Post were particularly important. They created a kind of feedback loop: These pundits voiced their concerns about Biden right after the debate; then Democratic politicians, donors and staffers contacted them anonymously and encouraged them to keep airing these concerns; then the pundits repeated the private comments of key party officials.
Everyone saw how terrible Biden was in the debate. But I was shocked that people such as MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough, a staunch Biden supporter, and Pod Save America’s Jon Favreau, who served in the Obama administration with Biden, were willing to bluntly acknowledge what happened. I often worry that left-leaning (and right-leaning) media act as essentially arms of the two political parties. That didn’t happen in this case.
Why do these media organizations matter so much? Because they are among the most important institutions in influencing the Democratic Party. Scholars who study political parties argue that while partisanship is stronger than ever in America, the parties themselves are very weak. National and state Democratic Party chairs used to have real influence; now they are often just loyalists of the president or the governor of their state. Union membership has declined, so labor isn’t as big a force within Democratic Party as it used to be. There are lots of groups purporting to represent women, African Americans and other left-leaning constituencies, but they often don’t have large numbers of members.
So with other power centers diminished, the media has outsize influence. CNN, the New York Times and The Post aim to reach people across ideologies, but their audiences are significantly more Democratic than Republican. Democratic activists and officials read and watch them closely. MSNBC and Pod Save America are openly aligned with the party, with party leaders often appearing on both and being covered favorably in most cases.
The Bulwark is essentially an outlet for “Never Trump” Republicans. So Democrats consider it a useful guide to what might resonate with independents and swing voters whom the party needs to win elections.
When prominent voices at all six of these outlets were delivering the same message — “Maybe Biden can’t win the election” — that was powerful.
I don’t think this has been just a pundit rebellion against Biden. It was more pundits plus Democratic Party officials who didn’t have a lot of other avenues to challenge Biden using the pundits to raise doubts about his campaign.
What will happen next? I would bet on Biden remaining the candidate. But I am not sure. I never, ever imagined an issue where George Clooney, James Carville and Michael Bennet (middle-aged White men who aren’t leftists) would be on the anti-Biden side, while Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar and Bernie Sanders would be in the pro-Biden camp. These are confusing times for the Democratic Party and those of us watching it in action — or, at least so far, inaction.
First appeared on www.washingtonpost.com