Democrats’ prospects in Congressional elections are looking bleak, leading those in danger of losing their races to call for a change of leadership in the party’s upper echelons — targeting Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Leader Nancy Pelosi, and President Joe Biden.
The first of those calling for new leadership after the chances of winning his prospective race began looking bleaker was Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Oh.).
Ryan has repeatedly voted in line with the party’s leadership, so his calls for a different leader than Biden are shocking.
Ryan trails Republican J.D. Vance in polling for Ohio’s State Senate.
The polling could be what’s fueling Ryan distancing himself from Biden, who had an approval rating underwater in Ohio.
Nationally, polls place Biden’s approval rating between 40 and 42 percent, yet in Ohio, his approval rating is 37 percent.
Then, when Ryan was asked if he’d want Biden to run again in 2024 in a radio interview, the Ohio lawmaker responded, “My hunch is that we need new leadership across the board,” he included Republicans in his response.
Yet, Ryan has voted with Biden 100 percent of the time, according to data gathered by FiveThirtyEight.
This was in September.
In October, it was Rep. Elissa Slotkin’s (D-Mich.) turn to call for a change in Democratic leadership.
Speaking on MSNBC’s “Meet the Press,” Slotkin said, “We need new blood, period, across the Democratic Party, in the House, the Senate, and the White House.”
Slotkin is facing a tough reelection bid as she faces a Republican challenger, Tom Barrett, with whom she hasn’t managed to gain any meaningful lead over.
Despite calls for new leadership, Slotkin has voted in tandem with Pelosi 96 percent of the time and 100 percent with Biden.
