WASHINGTON - President Biden on Thursday entered a dangerous phase in the fight

[The full translation of the WSJ article]

<High-ranking Democratic figures prepare for 2024 presidential election without Biden>

WASHINGTON - President Biden on Thursday entered a dangerous phase in the fight to remain in the presidential race. Allies and backers are starting to consider a future in which a new candidate is at the forefront, and internal data showed him losing by a landslide.

By Annie Linskey, Emily Glazer, Tarini Parti
July 18, 2024 9:30 pm ET

People close to senior Democrats said Thursday that now Biden's withdrawal from the presidential race is only a matter of time. In the last day or two, former President Barack Obama told his calling friends that Biden's chances of winning were narrow, according to people with knowledge of the call.

Senior Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, have told some of their key backers that they are actively planning next steps in case Biden decides to step down from the election. Schumer said many have put their ideas to the leader, but he has not taken action on them.

The Democrats' detailed report, which predicts the president will lose the electoral vote overwhelmingly, has raised alarm bells among party leaders and renewed public and private calls for the president's resignation.

The data, based on a survey of voters conducted by Democratic Blue Rose Research, was confirmed by the Wall Street Journal. In addition to losing all contested states, Biden is also lagging behind or neck-and-neck in New Hampshire, Minnesota, New Mexico, Virginia, and Maine, according to the report. New Jersey is only 2.9 percentage points ahead.

The main concern across the Democratic Party is that half of the electorate, 28% of the voters who supported Biden in 2020, and 52% of swing voters believe current Democratic figures are lying about the president's mental capacity. The report says voters are likely to view Democratic claims defending Biden as dishonest with a 2-1 ratio.

The data, shared widely among Democratic figures in recent days, indicated that Vice President Kamala Harris performed better than Biden in his showdown with Donald Trump. However, it also pointed out that Republican attacks that Harris has not been honest about the president's health could be effective.

As Democrats seek a path forward, the findings showed voters want a competitive process to determine alternative candidates if Biden steps down.

Biden stayed in a Delaware holiday home after testing positive for COVID-19 the day before on Thursday. The decrepit appearance on his return to Delaware and multiple mistakes in interviews earlier in the week have raised fresh concerns that he remains in the race and lacks the stamina and agility to serve another term. Biden is taking Paxlovid to treat COVID and is experiencing minor upper respiratory symptoms, the doctor's letter said.

On Wednesday, prominent Wall Street financiers and backers met in Manhattan to discuss no further funding of any Democratic efforts until Biden resigned as the nominee, according to people with knowledge of the meeting.

Over the past two weeks, and in recent days, sponsors have told Schumer, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that they will not raise money or money for presidential or congressional elections until Biden resigns. People have emphasized that they are depressed. Some are strategizing to talk to others who can convince Biden to resign, with lawmakers openly insisting that Biden resign.

Schumer met with the president at the Biden villa in Delaware over the weekend, where he said current election trends would cost Democrats the Senate.

White House aides say they are in the dark about Biden's intentions as a group of close aides to the president shrinks. However, several aides who have been contacted in the past 24 hours say for the first time that Biden's grip on power is weaker than ever, and that his candidacy is nearing an end.

This view is shared by Biden's allies, who are sensing a new trend from the president's key aides. Steve Ricchetti, a longtime Biden adviser, was initially resistant to polls or data suggesting that Biden was a burden on the party. But in at least one recent conversation, Ricchetti was more open and receptive to hearing a more sweeping assessment of the political situation, according to a person with knowledge of the conversation.

"I don't feel like the campaign side is pushing back so hard on the possibility of change," said Representative Mike Quigley (D-Illinois), who has called for Biden's resignation.

Biden campaigned in Nevada over the past few days and gave several shaky interviews. Interviews with BET had the difficulty of referring to him as a "black man" because he could not immediately recall the secretary of defense's name.

Biden has endured political storms in the past. He performed poorly in the Iowa caucuses in 2020 and fell to fifth in the subsequent New Hampshire primary, but he later rebounded. The party also faced headwinds in the 2022 midterm elections, but performed better than expected.

"The president is not swayed by anything," said Quentin Fulks, a key deputy campaign manager, at a news conference Thursday morning in Milwaukee. "The president has already made his decision. This may sound rude, but I don't know how many more times we should answer this question."

However, on Thursday, another celebrity's skepticism came out. In a four-page letter written during the July 4 holiday season, Representative Jamie Raskin (D-Maryland) urged President Biden to reconsider his reelection campaign, likening the president to an exhausted baseball pitcher. While he did not explicitly ask the president to step down, his position could have broad influence within the party. The letter was obtained by The New York Times and was released