Biden confronts his own LBJ’s choice

The first Democrat in Congress to go public urging President Biden to end his reelection campaign this month cited a potent historical precedent — the decision by President Lyndon B. Johnson to withdraw from the presidential race of 1968.

It was 15-term House veteran Lloyd Doggett of Texas who said out loud what many were saying to themselves after Biden’s shockingly poor performance in the June 27 debate with former President Donald Trump.

Doggett noted a personal connection in his statement, because he now represents much of the Austin-area district that first sent LBJ to Congress in the depths of the Great Depression.

While saluting what both LBJ and Biden were able to accomplish during their presidencies, Doggett said LBJ had bowed out in the best interests of the party and the country and provided a model for others.

“Under very different circumstances, [LBJ] made the painful decision to withdraw,” Doggett said, referring to Johnson’s waning popularity amid a confluence of factors, including the Vietnam War. “President Biden should do the same.”

Doggett’s advice to Biden has been echoed by many in Congress and other elected offices but mostly not in public. In the media, the voices calling for Biden to step down swelled into a chorus. A 22-minute TV interview with ABC anchor George Stephanopoulos on July 5 neither worsened nor assuaged the near-panic in Democratic party circles.

All the same, in public at least, Biden and his inner circle of family and staff have been adamant about his determination to stay in the race and his fitness to do so. They point to polls in recent days that show the head-to-head with Trump little changed since before the debate. Other polls show a widening Trump lead and note new record