People close to President Biden say he believes he could have won a second term. But he came to realize that the fight would rip apart the Democratic Party that he had served his whole life.
Tl;Dr: Biden believed, and still does believe, that he could have beaten Trump.* If this article is to be believed, it sounds like Biden was convinced to step down through a combination of big donors putting on pressure by withholding money and endorsements, and democrats in other races telling Biden he was going to hurt their odds of winning their election. It paints the picture that he recognized that any possible victory would have been both hard won and pyrrhic.
*Imo, there’s very clear distinction between could (non-zero chance) and would. I maintained, and still do maintain, that Biden’s chances were dangerously narrow. Any possible path to victory depended purely on him being the Not Hitler candidate, and that’s IRL a far more dangerous wager to make than anyone would hope.
Tl;Dr: Biden believed, and still does believe, that he could have beaten Trump.* If this article is to be believed, it sounds like Biden was convinced to step down through a combination of big donors putting on pressure by withholding money and endorsements, and democrats in other races telling Biden he was going to hurt their odds of winning their election. It paints the picture that he recognized that any possible victory would have been both hard won and pyrrhic.
*Imo, there’s very clear distinction between could (non-zero chance) and would. I maintained, and still do maintain, that Biden’s chances were dangerously narrow. Any possible path to victory depended purely on him being the Not Hitler candidate, and that’s IRL a far more dangerous wager to make than anyone would hope.