Santa Barbara’s Congressional representative Salud Carbajal praised President Joe Biden’s decision to resign from the country’s presidential race just five weeks before the Democratic Party convention, stating, “He [Biden] put country over ego and vanity.”
Carbajal — a staunchly loyal supporter of Biden — said he never signed any of the escalating statements calling on Biden to resign that other Democratic members in Congress had issued after the president’s stunningly poor showing during his debate with Republican candidate Donald J. Trump three weeks ago. “I never called for him to step aside,” Carbajal said. “I wanted to provide him the space, the room, and the respect to make the decision himself.”
Since then, Carbajal — who described Biden’s debate performance merely as “a sluggish night” — said he had participated in several group chats with the president by phone. Though he declined to provide details of these exchanges other than to describe them as “candid,” he said he relayed to the president the sentiments he’d heard from constituents in his district. Carbajal said he was officially notified of Biden’s historic decision early Sunday afternoon, but that he had “a good feeling” of how the president was leaning before then.
Carbajal said Biden’s announcement came at a time when the Democratic party’s leadership had grown increasingly convinced that Biden lacked the ability to wage a vigorous, let alone victorious, campaign against Trump.
Taking Biden’s lead, Carbajal emphatically endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to be the party’s standard bearer in November. “She will wipe the floor with Trump,” he stated. Carbajal said he was not clear what the upcoming process would be to formally select a new Democratic party presidential nominee. Biden had secured the party nomination in primaries that offered only the most nominal of opposition.
While Carbajal supported the idea that Biden’s successor be “legitimized” by some sort of vetting and selection process, he said, “I’m just not sure what it is yet.” The key thing, he stressed, is articulating a forward looking vision for the country while exposing Trump — whom he described as “the orange haired whackadoodle and would-be dictator” — for what he is.
As far as who would replace Harris as vice president on the Democratic ticket, Carbajal expressed confidence that the party’s “bench is really deep,” adding that it would have to be a candidate, such as Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer — “that would add value in battleground states.”
Carbajal’s official statement read very much like the one issued by Biden himself, first praising the president for his accomplishments, achieving “what most presidents in modern times could not.” Under the leadership of Biden-Harris, Carbajal stated that the Central Coast has seen the infusion of “nearly $1 billion” in federal infrastructure funding and the creation of “thousands of new jobs” throughout the state.
State Senator Monique Limón also issued a statement praising Biden for “decades of service,” adding, “He has delivered for working Americans and brought us out of unprecedented times.” Like Carbajal, Limón praised Biden for putting the interest of the country first.
Biden’s statement was exceptionally vague on why, after repeatedly vowing to stick it out, he had decided to withdraw. He wrote: “I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as president for the remainder of my term.” He added, “I will speak to the Nation later this week in more detail about my decision.”
The only precedent occurred in 1968 — during the height of the Vietnam War — when President Lyndon Baines Johnson announced in March that he would not seek the party’s nomination. That decision came much earlier in the primary season after Johnson had barely won victory in the New Hampshire Primary. In that race, however, Johnson faced a number of strong and formidable opponents, including Senator Robert Kennedy, who was assassinated after winning the California primary.
In this year’s presidential race, polls have consistently demonstrated that a large number of voters — of both parties — are unhappy about the candidates representing them: both Biden and Trump. Despite the fact that Biden’s age has been an issue with voters for some time, no other Democratic candidate ran against him in the primaries. With a second term for Trump a distinct possibility, party leaders argued that the stakes were simply too high to countenance the bruising diversion of resources required by a real primary contest. As Biden had been quick to point out, and they to repeat, Biden is the only candidate to have actually beaten Trump.
Correction: The headline of this story was updated to match Salud Carbajal’s direct quote. Also, an earlier version of this story mistakenly referred to the upcoming Democratic Party convention as the primary.
