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The first post-Republican Convention episode of PBS’s journalistic political roundtable Washington Week with The Atlantic spent a long time emphasizing the travails of the Democrats over the mental state of President Joe Biden (who would drop out of the 2024 race on Sunday afternoon). But one panelist saw the bright side in the Democratic meltdown.
McKay Coppins, The Atlantic: This is, I think, a point of contrast though, that’s worth making with the Republican Party, right? The way that the Democratic Party is operating right now, it is chaotic, and it makes a lot of people nervous. But it is also a sign of a vital, healthy political party, that there is still a willingness to kind of put pressure on what a lot of Democrats see as an increasingly kind of belligerent and detached from reality leader.
The Republican Party has not had so much success in that, right? Donald Trump has, at various points, had the beginnings of a backlash and he’s always managed to tamp it down. So, when I talk to Democrats, they will sometimes say, look, this might be ugly, but it is a sign of a functioning political party acting like a political party.
Coppins’ description of free and open debate within the Democratic Party omitted how the Democratic National Committee enabled Biden to remain this far by discouraging primary challengers, like the most prominent one, Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips. In fact, Phillips challenge was dismissed on the March 29 episode of Washington Week, in this exchange between host Bernard Goldberg and Atlantic writer Mark Leibovich:
Mark Leibovich: I would also say, I mean, two things. One, just the passage of time. I mean, the fact that the primaries are almost over effectively. I mean, the nominees have been chosen. I think people are now not starting to pay attention so closely but actually acknowledge that this is what`s going to happen? I think a lot of the unenthusiasm for Biden a few months ago was centered on the fact of disbelief, like is this actually happening. It`s happening. And also, let’s be honest, I mean, Biden has performed quite well in the primaries. And the Democratic primaries, if you look at the numeric difference, there was some talk that Dean Phillips was going to get 25, 30 percent of the vote, you know, he was in —
Jeffrey Goldberg: You remember Dean Phillips?
Leibovich: I do, right.
Goldberg: Wow.
Leibovich: I mean, yes, he did get out, right?
Goldberg: I had no idea.
Leibovich: And he did drop out.
It’s easier for a party to look free and open to challenges when the media spent the crucial primary months mocking actual rival candidates out of existence.
The liberal news outlet Vox pointed out that Biden’s primary coronation wasn’t a triumph of the democratic process, but was meant to eliminate chaos, not enhance it the way Coppins’ tribute implied:
Democrats worked to deter any credible alternative from running, and if any had run, they would have faced intense criticism for disloyalty to the president and harming his chances against Trump. And since Biden avoided debates, primary voters arguably lacked crucial information about how he’d fare in one.
Also not mentioned by Coppins: Several state Democratic parties kept primary challengers like Phillips off the primary ballot. He had to sue to make the Wisconsin ballot.
This segment was brought to you in part by Consumer Cellular.
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