Governor Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI) set off alarm bells within Joe Biden‘s re-election campaign Friday night, informing campaign chair Jennifer O’Malley Dillon on a phone call that she believes Michigan is no longer winnable for the 81-year-old Democrat incumbent. The Michigan Democrat also insisted on the call with O’Malley Dillon that she was not looking to supplant Biden as the Democratic presidential nominee.
The fallout from Biden‘s confused and impaired performance during last Thursday’s presidential debate left Democrats scrambling on how to mitigate the damage—especially down-ballot in November. Meanwhile, Whitmer‘s phone call to O’Malley Dillon appears to be the first shot fired in a looming intra-Democratic Party civil war should Biden be forced out of the race. The Michigan governor is one of several state-level Democrats expected to be considered an emergency replacement for the presidential nomination.
Over the weekend, the Biden family huddled at Camp David as dissent within the Democratic Party simmered. Family members lashed out at top campaign staffers, urging the 81-year-old Joe Biden to either fire or demote several influential advisors. Among those in the Biden family’s crosshairs are the White House’s senior communications advisor, Anita Dunn, and former White House chief-of-staff Ron Klain, who currently serves as an informal campaign advisor.
The criticism of Dunn, a former director at the powerful progressive consulting firm SKDK, suggests Joe Biden‘s family intends to exert greater control over the campaign and White House and push out those they view as not sufficiently loyal to their interests. Dunn is a close ally of former President Barack Obama, serving as a senior advisor on his 2008 campaign and as his White House’s communications director.