U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-8th) joined other high-ranking Democrats in communicating with President Joe Biden about why it might be best for the country if he opts not to run for re-election.
Nowhere in Raskin’s four-page letter dated July 6 does he urge Biden to drop out of the race. Nor does he offer the name of another Democrat who he thinks should run against former President Donald Trump.
Raskin signed his letter, which his office sent to MCM, “With boundless admiration, affection and solidarity.”
Raskin wrote that he is “not writing to presume to tell you what to do, Mr. President, because that is up to you and Jill and your family entirely. You will be the best judge of that. But I am writing to remind you of who you are.”
Raskin, of Takoma Park, compared Biden to a great baseball pitcher after 110 pitches, whose “arms tire and begin to give out.” He pointed to former Red Sox pitcher Pedro Martinez, who told his manager during the eighth inning of the seventh game of the 2003 American League Championship Series he should remain in the game.
The Yankees then went on not to just tie the game but to win it.
Raskin noted, “There is no shame in taking a well-deserved bow to the overflowing appreciation of the crowd when your arm is tired out, and there is real danger for the team in ignoring the statistics. Your situation is tricky because you are both our star pitcher and our Manager.”
When asked why he decided to write the letter, Raskin issued a statement, noting, ““I wrote that letter to the president over the Fourth of July weekend. My point was that we needed a strategic internal discussion about how to move forward to decisively win the election, which is of immeasurable importance to the future of America. The letter expressed my profound affection for the president, my great concern for the future of the country and my confidence in the judgment he would make.”
His statement concluded, “None of those things has changed.”
The letter overflows with admiration and support for Biden, who he called a friend.
However, Raskin wrote, the country “is under siege every day by the autocrats and monarchists, from Moscow to Mar-A-Largo.”
“Your greatness, Joe, is that you have shown with your life and your career not only that we will never, ever, bow down to a king but that we will never have to, because we the people have the creative power each day to begin the world over again in freedom,” Raskin wrote.
He praised Biden for his investment in public infrastructure and science as well as his efforts to reduce prescription drug prices. He complimented him on his support of the people of Ukraine.
Then he declared, “We have an overriding obligation to defeat the forces of resurgent monarchy and oppression. Everything else pales in comparison to this struggle, even your magnificent policy achievements.”
He urged Biden to not only consider his health but also take into consideration how people perceive his mental and physical stamina.
