Swing district Democrats are gently distancing themselves from President Joe Biden’s embattled Afghanistan withdrawal, resisting outright rebukes that would anger grassroots liberals but offering constructive criticism as an olive branch to frustrated Republicans and independents.
In a Sunday letter to Biden, nine House Democrats expressed gratitude for his commitment to “fulfilling America’s sacred promise to evacuate” Afghans who aided the U.S. war effort for nearly 20 years. In nudging but respectful language, these Democrats urged Biden to do more ahead of the Tuesday withdrawal deadline.
“We request that you evacuate remaining Afghan partners who are at the most acute risk, through all available means,” they wrote.
Among the nine House Democrats and one Democratic senator who signed the letter were Reps. Andy Kim and Tom Malinowski, two vulnerable members from New Jersey.
They and other Democrats from swing districts, as well as those who have used their national security credentials to appeal to Republicans and independents, are trying to strike a difficult political balance. They must make clear their dissatisfaction with Biden’s much-criticized handling of the Afghanistan exit, speaking to the dissatisfaction felt by so many of their Republican and independent constituents. At the same time, it cannot alienate a liberal base that might reject Democrats too critical of the president in 2022.
“It’s a tricky situation,” a House Democratic aide said Monday, requesting anonymity to speak candidly about a sensitive topic. “You cannot overestimate how much people are rooting for Joe Biden to succeed. The Democratic base is still traumatized by 2016. They finally beat [former President Donald] Trump — going after Biden, or the Biden agenda, is not viewed favorably.”
REPUBLICAN HAWKS WANE EVEN AS AFGHANISTAN ELEVATES NATIONAL SECURITY ISSUES
Republicans are eyeing four House Democrats as vulnerable because of the unfolding of the military withdrawal from Afghanistan and the chaotic evacuation of American citizens and allies under Biden’s leadership. They include Reps. Elaine Luria of Virginia, Mike Levin of California, Chris Pappas of New Hampshire, and Malinowski. Others who might get swept up in GOP targeting include Kim and Reps. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan and Abigail Spanberger of Virginia.
Kim is a veteran of the State Department who spent time in Afghanistan; Slotkin worked at the Defense Department under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama; Spanberger worked in the clandestine service of the CIA. In 2020, Trump edged out Biden in New Jersey’s 3rd Congressional District, which Kim captured from an incumbent Republican in 2018. Slotkin, another 2018 winner, also holds a district narrowly won by Trump last year.
Spanberger’s seat voted for Biden but by a margin of less than 1 percentage point.
The big unknown is the extent to which Afghanistan will influence an election that is more than one year away.
Biden’s standing with voters, healthy during the first months of his presidency, has taken a hit over his perceived mismanagement of the withdrawal. In a fresh Ipsos poll for ABC News, approval of Biden on Afghanistan plummeted nearly 20 points, down to 38%, from where it stood a month earlier.
Some Democratic operatives say they expect Biden’s numbers and their party’s midterm election prospects to improve over time. Support for the Afghanistan withdrawal as a matter of policy remains strong, and Democratic insiders say voters will come to appreciate what Biden accomplished in evacuating more than 100,000 American citizens and Afghans who worked with the United States during the war.
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However, some Democrats concede this prediction is far from a slam-dunk.
“The attention span in this country is about 10 minutes. Between now and the next election, we’ll have 10 emergencies,” said Dane Strother, a Democratic strategist. “But if [Afghanistan is] the first of several management concerns, then it’s part of a bigger puzzle.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee declined to comment for this story.
