Axios reports:

The public backing of former presidents and current members of Congress says little about Biden’s future.

• Most know him too well and for too long to humiliate him in public.
• Instead, if he decides to go, it’ll follow private conversations with them — then a decision with this oligarchy [Dr. Jill Biden; his younger sister, Valerie Biden; and 85-year-old Ted Kaufman, the president’s longtime friend and constant adviser — plus a small band of White House advisers]. Remember, it’s under eight weeks until Biden is ratified as the official nominee. That’s the clock to watch.

What they’re saying: James Carville — the “Ragin’ Cajun” who masterminded Bill Clinton’s first presidential campaign in 1992, and now is a frequent TV pundit — will be 80 in October. He told us that if he appeared like Biden did during the debate, he’d want to be pulled off the tube.

• “I never thought this was a nifty idea,” Carville said of Biden’s run. He said there are few people the president really listens to: “He doesn’t have advisers. He has employees.”

When we pressed Carville on whether he thinks Biden will be off the ticket by Election Day, he said he thinks so. He invoked a famous quote by the late economist Herb Stein, which Carville paraphrased as: “That which can’t continue … won’t.”

When Biden says 2day, “I don’t debate as well as I used to, but…I know how to do this job!” it ignores that communicating w/the public is central to the job. It's not just private negotiating w/other leaders. "The power to persuade" is the core prez power Neustadt said.

— Ronald Brownstein (@RonBrownstein) June 28, 2024