Democrats oscillating between broken hearts and new hope

Photo: A Washington resident holds a poster thanking Joe Biden in front of the White House on Sunday.

Fabien Deglise in Madison, Wisconsin

Published at 18:05 Updated at 18:32

• United States

“I’m heartbroken! »

Sunday afternoon, in the heart of Madison, Judy Hawkins, a Democrat from Massachusetts passing through the capital of Wisconsin, had her nose glued to the screen of her phone to follow news that she was trying to tame it piece by piece.

“Joe Biden is the best president we have ever had in this country,” she said, after expressing her sadness upon learning of the announcement of the Democrat’s withdrawal from the current electoral campaign. He did an incredible job during his presidency, even if it's not what people talked about the most. If the Democrats think they have someone better than him, great. Because we cannot afford to re-elect Trump. The whole world should not deserve this. »

Monday afternoon, the American president and Democratic candidate for next November's presidential election finally put an end to several weeks of conjecture about his political future by announcing his withdrawal from the race for the White House. Since the end of June and his disastrous performance during the first televised debate of the campaign with Donald Trump, Joe Biden has been the subject of intense pressure within his political camp. In recent days, a growing number of senior party officials, including Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi, have publicly questioned the viability of his candidacy and called behind the scenes for him to pass the baton.

“I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to step down and concentrate solely on serving as President until the end of my term. mandate”, he announced in a press release, while specifying that he would address the nation “later this week”.

Photo: Fabien Deglise Le Devoir It was at the foot of the Wisconsin Capitol that Judy Hawkins, a Democrat from Massachusetts on a trip, learned of Joe Biden's withdrawal from the electoral race.

In the process, the 81-year-old politician, whose doubts about his physical and mental abilities to lead a new charge against Donald Trump have plunged his party into turmoil and uncertainty, supported the candidacy of his vice-president, Kamala Harris, in view of the Democratic National Convention which will open in a few weeks in Chicago. The event must confirm the choice of the Democratic candidate for the November election, in a formula which could now be open to competition, an unusual and rare configuration in modern political history.

“We are witnessing the most bizarre election campaign in the history of the country,” said Carl, a Republican tax expert sitting at the foot of the Capitol in Madison. Joe Biden's withdrawal was inevitable. He couldn't hold out any longer. He is not fit enough to be president, let alone candidate. » Joe Biden went into self-isolation at his summer home in Delaware last week, after contracting COVID-19.

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“Voters didn’t seem very happy with the choice they were being given in this campaign,” said Greg Zorko, a University of Wisconsin employee who was out for a breath of fresh air Sunday afternoon at a park in Madison, a Democratic stronghold in a state with a volatile political mood. “We don’t want a Trump victory. The problem is that Joe Biden’s age was becoming a distraction from looking at his record and his party’s platform. By stepping down, he’s allowing the Democratic campaign to get a little better.”

He added: “Kamala Harris is the one who should be replacing him. An open convention would be disastrous and would risk dividing the party, with just over three months to go until the election. She’s already in the White House and on the campaign trail, so she’s the easiest and quickest choice.” »

Photo: Fabien Deglise Le Devoir For Greg Zorko, the choice of Kamala Harris to replace Biden is obvious. At his side, Ashley Armitage says she will vote for anyone among the Democrats, in order to prevent Donald Trump from returning to power.

Fragile legitimacy

Several tenors of the Democratic Party are, however, campaigning in favor of an open convention to avoid a coronation of the current vice-president and thus guarantee the legitimacy of the choice of delegates in August. This is what Nancy Pelosi allegedly pleaded last week, during a meeting with relatives in California, reported the Politico website. This process would thus more easily unite activists and mobilize them quickly in order to block the road to Donald Trump and his ultra-conservative political program, next November.

The divisions and tensions which preceded Joe Biden's abandonment from the electoral race are, however, likely to persist afterwards, around the choice of the new candidate. “If you think there is a consensus among people who want Joe Biden gone” around Kamala Harris’ candidacy, “you are wrong,” New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wrote last week, icon of the party's more left-wing fringe, on Instagram. “There are no guaranteed options. »

On Sunday, on his social network, the Republican candidate greeted Joe Biden's announcement with contempt and arrogance, writing that “Joe Biden “the thug” was not fit to run for president, and is certainly not fit to serve as president. He never was! “. “We are suffering enormously from his presidency, and we will very quickly repair the damage he has caused,” he promised.

“Joe Biden was the worst president of my lifetime, and Kamala Harris was by his side every step of the way,” mocked his running mate, the young senator from Ohio, J.D. Vance on the X network, continuing the Republican smear campaign launched for months against the woman who could become the Democratic candidate. “Over the past four years, she co-signed open border policies and supported Biden’s “green fraud,” which drove up the cost of housing and groceries. She is responsible for all these failures, and she lied for almost four years about Biden's mental abilities. »

“It’s very difficult to pay attention to politics right now, and Joe Biden’s withdrawal is not going to change that,” said Jackie Kavanaugh, a health care worker in Madison. looking for “peace and quiet” on Lake Mendota. No new candidate is going to change the fact that there is too much anger and insults right now in this campaign. »

“We're going to have to expect a surge of misogynistic and racist comments in the coming months if Kamala Harris is chosen,” said Ashley Armitage, a strict Democrat in a city that voted 75% for Joe Biden in 2020. .Personally, I would like someone a little more left, like Elizabeth Warren. But in November, I'm going to vote for anyone, no matter who the Democratic delegates choose, because we can't let Donald Trump return to the White House. He doesn't care about human rights. »

This report was financed with the support of the Transat-Le Devoir International Journalism Fund.