The following article was originally published in the Ohio Capital Journal and published on News5Cleveland.com under a content-sharing agreement.
In a couple weeks, Kemba Live will host Taking Back Sunday in Columbus’ Arena District. But on Saturday morning, the concrete dance floor was lined with folding chairs and Democrats from around Ohio instead of elder millennials reliving past glories. The Ohio Democratic Party billed the gathering as a family reunion, pairing official business like selecting electoral college delegates with speeches from prominent party members like Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and U.S. Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey.
Although it wasn’t part of the original plan, the event also provided an opportunity to calm nerves amid uncertainty at the top of the Democratic ticket.
“We know what we have to do,” Ohio Democratic Party Chair Liz Walters told the crowd. “We know that we can’t roll up our sleeves up and get to work if we don’t stop wringing our hands.”
Since his debate performance, President Joe Biden has insisted he plans to stick around as the party’s nominee, and he’s participated in several public appearance to assuage doubts about his candidacy. His performance so far has been a mixed bag. At least one recent poll suggests the debate didn’t change the race.
It leaves many in the party at sea — certain about the danger of their opponent, but uncertain about their nominee’s ability to beat him. As of Saturday morning, 19 U.S. Representatives and Senators had called on Biden to drop out of the race.
As the event kicked off, party Vice Chair Andre Washington aimed to fire up the crowd. He acknowledged Biden had a bad debate.
“Now, let’s talk about those 30-plus lies,” he said in reference to Donald Trump’s performance at the debate. “Let’s talk about the 2025 plan.”
And he encouraged the crowd to make the case for the party at the water cooler.
“When you talk about Sally wearing white shoes after Labor Day, talk about what Biden has done in four years. Talk about Sherrod Brown,” he shouted. “We came together and we kicked ass in August (2023) to protect democracy. It is not time for us put our foot on the brakes. It is time for us to put our foot on the gas.”
Rank and file
Perhaps unsurprisingly most attendees land somewhere close to Walters and Washington. Outside the venue, Jacqueline DuBose was wearing a floppy-brimmed hat covered in political buttons. She was eating lunch with Barbara Kaplan; both came down from Summit County.
“I think his chances are — good,” DuBose said with a long pause. “I think he can win it — if we work.”
She argued repeated discussions about Biden’s fitness distract from the work of convincing voters to back their candidates.
“The bottom line we should be boots on the ground, making sure people are registered and making people understand how important this election is,” she said, “And we’ll win it and we’ll win it with a resounding victory — but we gotta work at it.”
Kaplan admitted she has concerns, but argued much of the agita about Biden is coming from reporters rather than the average voter.
“I do believe it’s a very close situation,” she continued. “And I think that Democrats, we’ll need to really work hard to get him elected.”
Her husband Mike Kaplan offered a sharper assessment.
“Unless the press decides that this topic has been fully discussed, then we need to have a new candidate,” he said, adding “The case needs to be made to the American people as to who is going to lead us for the next five years, and right now that’s not happening.”
Kaplan is in his mid-70s and he’s a former mayor. He described deciding not to pursue reelection himself because he was no longer up for it, and argued neither of the major party candidates should be running.
“I think he’s been a great president for what he has done,” Kaplan said of Biden, “But I think he now needs to make one more sacrifice.”
Down the street, Joyce Skocic and Deborah Reidmiller from Mt. Vernon, were far more sanguine.
Describing Biden, Skocic said, “He tells the truth, and he knows right from wrong. And by comparison, he doesn’t have to be perfect, but look what he’s running against.”
“And I think a vote for Biden is a vote for Harris, too,” she added.
Reidmilller expressed disappointment with Biden’s debate performance because it didn’t line up with her perception of his success in office.
“He knows how to govern, he knows how to get legislation passed for the good of the people, so I am still with Biden-Harris,” she said. “And if Biden should need to step down at some point from the office, we’ve got Harris, and she’s awesome.”
Meanwhile, Will Petrik and Deb Steele expressed serious doubts. Both of them serve as part of the Franklin County Democratic Party.
Petrik said Biden is arguably the most successful president of his lifetime, but “as a candidate, I don’t believe that he has what it takes to beat Trump.”
“I just think a lot of people watched (the debate) and lost faith in his ability to actually articulate a vision for the future,” he said.
Steele worries about an enthusiasm gap with Biden at the top of the ticket.
“I’m certainly going to vote for our Democratic candidate,” she said, “but I’m disheartened that Joe Biden isn’t seeing what we’re seeing.”
Headliners
As the day moved into speeches from U.S. Sen. Booker and Gov. Pritzker, the speakers touched on the complications in Biden’s candidacy lightly, or not at all. Pritzker acknowledged “there’s never been a more stressful time to be a Democrat,” and joked about a guided meditation concluding with taking an imagined sledgehammer to debate podiums.
“There are folks in this room who are afraid. I feel that fear too,” Booker said vaguely, before turning to a litany of Donald Trump’s misdeeds. Pritzker called the former president a “uniquely awful man with evil intentions.”
As the slate of speakers seemingly sidestepped the current president, they put greater emphasis on the importance of reelecting U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown. Booker argued it’s the only way Democrats have a chance at keeping control of the Senate.
And there’s good reason to emphasize Brown’s race. Donald Trump won Ohio by about 8 points in the last two presidential elections. Polling in the current race is thin, but one survey suggests the former President has the advantage heading into November. Meanwhile, in Sherrod Brown’s last election, he bucked a red wave, and the same survey shows him polling ahead of Biden.
Brown himself offered perhaps the most direct response to consternation about Biden’s candidacy.
“Many of you heard me say the questions surrounding the president and his campaign are legitimate,” he said. “I’ve heard from many of you and from others. I’ll continue to listen to Ohioans because that’s my job.”
“But here’s what I know,” he added, “I know that this drama cannot continue to overshadow our important work on the issues facing Ohio.”
