As President Joe Biden readied himself to speak at the LBJ Library, marking the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act, his visit to Austin extended beyond mere ceremony, casting long shadows on his political future and stirring the local politicos in a city that has become a focal point for dissent against his continued leadership. Executive Director of the Texas Politics Project, Jim Henson, pointedly described the situation, stating, "The underlying message will be 'Joe Biden is a competent candidate. He’s here. He’s forceful, people should stop talking about removing him,'" in a statement obtained by KXAN. Yet, within the rumbles of Austin's streets and halls, Congressman Lloyd Doggett became the first House Democrat to openly call for Biden to relinquish his presidential aspirations, mirroring Johnson's own exit from the race decades ago.
Despite the historical resonance of Biden's upcoming speech, Doggett, a significant figure in the local political scene, will not bear witness to the president's attempt to assert his competence, having prior commitments that coincidentally solidified before his public plea for a new Democratic torchbearer. The timing of the congressman's absence does little to ease the conversation surrounding Biden's performance, for as the Texas Politics Project found in a June poll, sentiment does waver with 64 percent of Texans claiming Biden is too old for the presidency, this tide of skepticism washing over 45 percent of Texas Democrats too, leaving a trail of doubt where once there was confidence, according to Henson in a comment to KXAN.
But the reverberations of Biden's standing are not confined to Texas, spanning to all Democratic candidates grappling with the weight of his presence on the ballot, as illustrated by the fissures within the party. Joshua Blank, research director at the Texas Sir elusive victory could slip even further from grasp, should the electorate's enthusiasm dampen under the shadow of Biden's contested run, he articulated to CBS Austin.
The stakes in Texas are epitomized by the Senate seat contest, where Democratic Congressman Colin Allred struggles to unseat Republican incumbent Ted Cruz; with just a slender three-point gap separating Allred from Cruz in the University of Houston's latest polling, each step Biden takes on Texan soil, each word he utters at the LBJ Library, each nod of approval or furrowing of brows amongst Austin's electorate whispers of not just one man's political fate, but of a party's fortunes entwined, this was highlighted in the CBS Austin report. With Biden's next move anticipated, his attempt to fortify his position with a one-on-one interview with NBC's Lester Holt post-event captures a moment of political theatre fraught with consequence.
