If Biden steps down, it won't be because of the Times or his critics in the party or left Twitter or even the polls. It will be because he has lost the confidence of the top echelons of the Democratic Party.
Everything else is decoration.
If the half-dozen most powerful people in the party were out there twisting arms telling senators and governors that they were confident that Biden is up to the job and sure that he's not dropping out, we'd see that. It'd be visible. We wouldn't be able to NOT see it.
I don't know for sure what's happening behind the curtain, but I know what it looks like when the Democratic Party's top leadership closes ranks in unity, and it doesn't look like this.
I don't know - I think it DOES look like this. Schumer, Pelosi, Jeffries, Clyburn, and Obama haven't wavered at all. They can't tell their donors to shut up and get them to do it, but they're not giving any hints this is open.
Clyburn and Pelosi have entertained the possibility that he might step down. Obama sent out a tweet saying we should stick with him. Similar from Schumer. They're not deserting him, but they're not out making the case for him—they're just saying he's the nominee and they support him as such.
