FOR FREE PEOPLE

Let's Get to a Million Free Pressers!

FOR FREE PEOPLE

A Democratic bundler who knows Newsom texted Peter Savodnik: “Gavin represents everything cartoonish about California and politicians. . . All the plasticky stuff middle America hates.” (Andrew Harnik via Getty Images)

If Not Biden, Then Who?

Publicly, everyone is behind him. Privately, Democrats are panicked and plotting. Peter Savodnik reports.

By Peter Savodnik

July 1, 2024

On the record, everyone important in the Democratic Party is behind Joe Biden. 

“The question everyone’s asking is: ‘Who can pull together the raucous and rowdy Democratic Party coalition in a way that allows that coalition to beat the coalition pulled together by Mr. Trump,’ ” said Dmitri Mehlhorn, a Democratic strategist and fundraiser in northern Virginia. Melhorn insists the perfect—the only—candidate who can do that remains Joe Biden.

“Master Yoda is exactly what you need to protect against the Dark Side,” added Melhorn, who works closely with Reid Hoffman, the billionaire co-founder of LinkedIn who has become one of the party’s biggest donors. “As Joe Biden gets older, he’s like Master Yoda.”

Jamie Patricof, a movie and television producer in Los Angeles, added that debates are not that important. “If it were, then Hillary Clinton would have been president,” Patricof told me. “I trusted Joe Biden to be a great president, and he has delivered on that. I trust him to know if he can do it again.” 

So those are the kind of things prominent Democrats will say publicly. Privately, it’s a different story. 

Maintaining The Free
Press is Expensive!

To support independent journalism, and unlock all of our investigative stories and provocative commentary about the world as it actually is, subscribe below.

Subscriber Benefits:

  • Unlimited articles including weekly columns
  • Early access to live events
  • Access to the comments section
Subscribe Now

Already have an account? Sign in

our Comments

Use common sense here: disagree, debate, but don't be a .

the fp logo
comment bg

Welcome to The FP Community!

Our comments are an editorial product for our readers to have smart, thoughtful conversations and debates — the sort we need more of in America today. The sort of debate we love.   

We have standards in our comments section just as we do in our journalism. If you’re being a jerk, we might delete that one. And if you’re being a jerk for a long time, we might remove you from the comments section. 

Common Sense was our original name, so please use some when posting. Here are some guidelines:

  • We have a simple rule for all Free Press staff: act online the way you act in real life. We think that’s a good rule for everyone.
  • We drop an occasional F-bomb ourselves, but try to keep your profanities in check. We’re proud to have Free Press readers of every age, and we want to model good behavior for them. (Hello to Intern Julia!)
  • Speaking of obscenities, don’t hurl them at each other. Harassment, threats, and derogatory comments that derail productive conversation are a hard no.
  • Criticizing and wrestling with what you read here is great. Our rule of thumb is that smart people debate ideas, dumb people debate identity. So keep it classy. 
  • Don’t spam, solicit, or advertise here. Submit your recommendations to tips@thefp.com if you really think our audience needs to hear about it.

Onwards!

Close Guidelines

Comments 364

Latest