Devastating new polls that grabbed outsized attention this weekend appear to be fueling fear among some Democrats over President Biden\u2019s ability to win re-election next year.<\/p>\n
That has led some top political pundits to ring the alarm bell as they urge the 80-year-old president to drop out of the 2024 race and pass the baton to a new generation.<\/p>\n
The poll grabbing the most headlines \u2014 a survey from Siena College and the New York Times \u2014 indicated former President Trump edging Biden in hypothetical matchups in five of the six crucial battleground states that Biden narrowly carried in 2020 on his way to capturing the White House.<\/p>\n
\u2018This will send tremors of doubt thru the party \u2014 not \u2018bed-wetting,\u2019 but legitimate concern,\u2019 veteran Democratic strategist David Axelrod wrote on X as he pointed to the poll.<\/p>\n
Axelrod, the top political adviser to then-President Obama, who in recent years has made headlines with high-profile critiques of Biden, wrote, \u2018Only @JoeBiden can make this decision. If he continues to run, he will be the nominee of the Democratic Party. What he needs to decide is whether that is wise; whether it\u2019s in HIS best interest or the country\u2019s?\u2019<\/p>\n
The survey suggests Biden losing support among Black and Hispanic voters, as well as younger voters who have long been key parts of the Democratic Party\u2019s base of support.<\/p>\n
Additionally, while the survey indicates Biden losing to Trump, it also suggests that an unnamed generic Democratic nominee tops Trump by eight points in the 2024 presidential election.<\/p>\n
The Siena College\/New York Times survey did not live in a vacuum. A CBS News poll also released over the weekend pointed to Trump edging Biden in a likely 2024 showdown.<\/p>\n
People supporting the president in the survey said they are nervous and frustrated by the prospect of a Biden-Trump rematch.<\/p>\n
Trump is the commanding frontrunner in the race for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination as he makes his third straight White House run. He saw his lead expand over his numerous rivals during the spring and summer as he made history as the first former or current president in American history to be indicted for a crime. Trump\u2019s four indictments \u2014 including in federal court in Washington, D.C., and in Fulton County court in Georgia on charges he tried to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss \u2014 have only fueled his support among Republican voters.<\/p>\n
The CBS News poll also reiterates what plenty of other surveys this year have spotlighted \u2014 that a majority of Americans do not want to see a Biden-Trump rematch.<\/p>\n
The president\u2019s re-election campaign took aim at the latest surveys, pointing to the Democrats\u2019 poll-defying success in last year\u2019s midterms and to Obama\u2019s 2012 re-election despite polls a year earlier predicting defeat for the incumbent.<\/p>\n
\u2018Predictions more than a year out tend to look a little different a year later,\u2019 Biden campaign spokesperson Kevin Munoz said.<\/p>\n
\u2018Don\u2019t take our word for it: Gallup predicted an eight point loss for President Obama only for him to win handedly a year later,\u2019 Munoz added. \u2018Or a year out from the 2022 midterms when every major outlet similarly predicted a grim forecast for President Biden.\u2019<\/p>\n
Axelrod is not the only well-known Democratic strategist hitting the panic button.<\/p>\n
Longtime Democratic consultant James Carville \u2014 who helped boost former President Clinton to the White House in 1992 \u2014 has been warning for a couple of months that Biden could lose to Trump next year.<\/p>\n
\u2018Somebody better wake the f\u2011\u2011\u2011 up,\u2019 Carville emphasized earlier this autumn in a podcast with well-known political commentator and host Bill Maher<\/p>\n
Carville also claimed in a recent interview with The Atlantic that \u2018leading Democrats\u2019 have been telling him to keep quiet about Biden\u2019s 2024 prospect.<\/p>\n
A veteran Democratic strategist, who asked to remain anonymous to speak more freely, acknowledged that the latest polling was \u2018devastating\u2019 for the president and told Fox News that it would likely \u2018raise more questions\u2019 about Biden\u2019s durability and a possible 2024 alternative.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It is not just Democrats urging Biden to bow out.<\/p>\n
Bill Kristol, the longtime conservative writer and commentator and a top \u2018never-Trumper,\u2019 argued on social media that \u2018President Biden has served our country well. I\u2019m confident he\u2019ll do so for the next year. But it\u2019s time for an act of personal sacrifice and public spirit. It\u2019s time to pass the torch to the next generation. It\u2019s time for Biden to announce he won\u2019t run in 2024.\u2019<\/p>\n
The president is currently facing long shot primary challenges from a pair of Democratic rivals.<\/p>\n
Three-term Democratic Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota, who launched a primary challenge against the president a week and a half ago, has been arguing that Biden cannot beat Trump in 2024. The new polls gave Phillips plenty of fresh ammunition.<\/p>\n
\u2018I\u2019m saying the quiet part out loud. Biden\/Harris isn\u2019t viable against Trump,\u2019 he said in a social media post.<\/p>\n
\u2018I could offer no statement more powerful than the one made by suffering Americans in today\u2019s NY Times poll,\u2019 Phillips added. \u2018That\u2019s why Trump beats Biden 48-44 in the battleground states, while a \u2018generic\u2019 Democrat beats Trump 48-40.\u2019<\/p>\n
Both Phillips and bestselling author and spiritual adviser Marianne Williamson, who is making her second straight White House run, face steep uphill climbs to defeat Biden for the Democratic nomination.<\/p>\n
However, with poll after poll indicating Biden faces rising concerns from Democrats over his age and that many Americans, including plenty of Democrats, do not want the president to seek a second term in the White House, the question going forward is whether party leaders will begin pressuring the president to reconsider his re-election bid.<\/p>\n
Then, there is the constant speculation that well-known Democrats who may seek the White House in 2028 could jump into the 2024 race should Biden hang up his re-election campaign, even with Vice President Kamala Harris as the logical next-in-line.<\/p>\n
A growing number of stories in recent months characterize high-profile trips and moves by Govs. Gavin Newsom of California, J.B. Pritzker of Illinois, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, and Rep. Ro Khanna of California as potential shadow campaigns should Biden bow out.<\/p>\n
Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub<\/strong>.<\/strong><\/p>\n