Democrats fear ‘MAGA trifecta’ if Biden drags down House and Senate candidates

A version of this story appears in CNN’s What Matters newsletter. To get it in your inbox, sign up for free here.

Democrats’ collective freakout over the fitness of President Joe Biden hinges first and foremost on his ability to beat former President Donald Trump.

But in the distressed comments of lawmakers and strategists lurks the additional fact that the House and Senate are also up for grabs in November – and if voters turn on Biden, it could reverberate across the country and hand Republicans unified control of the federal government.

Damage control measures from the White House and Biden campaign are coming

In an effort to prove Biden can still think on his feet, he’ll meet the press and interact with lawmakers – things, shockingly, he has not already done in the wake of last week’s debate.

There are plans for a meeting with nervous Democratic governors this week; an interview with George Stephanopoulos on ABC News, with clips to be aired at the end of the week; and a Biden-hosted press conference during next week’s NATO summit.

Lawmaker calls on president to drop out with nod to Biden drag

The first evidence of actual fracture among Democrats is already here. It appeared on Tuesday when Rep. Lloyd Doggett, a longtime Democratic congressman from Texas, became the first elected Democrat at the national level to reluctantly call on Biden to withdraw from the presidential race.

Doggett appealed to Biden’s sense of patriotism in a statement and noted that Biden is underperforming Democratic candidates for Senate in key states around the country. Incumbent presidents are supposed leave coattails for down-ballot candidates to ride in their wake.

For Democrats this year, even before Biden’s bad