U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, who is retiring from Congress after 28 years, has joined a few of his House Democratic colleagues to urge President Joe Biden to step aside as a candidate for re-election.
The Portland Democrat was the first in Oregon’s congressional delegation to make that call in a statement he released Wednesday, July 10. He is the ninth House Democrat to do so.
The key observation:
“It is a painful and difficult conclusion but there is no question in my mind that we will all be better served if the president steps aside as the Democratic nominee and manages a transition under his terms,” he said. “He has earned that right.”
Blumenauer, who turns 76 in October, is retiring from the 3rd District seat he won in a special election in May 1996. The seat was vacated by Ron Wyden, who was elected to the Senate a few months earlier. He was a state representative, Multnomah County commissioner and Portland city commissioner before his election to the U.S. House.
Democrats have nominated state Rep. Maxine Dexter of Portland for the seat, which covers about two-thirds of Multnomah County, all of Hood River County, and parts of Clackamas County.
He issued his statement after House and Senate Democrats met in private separately the previous day. Some have urged Biden to stand down after his acuity was called into question during a televised debate June 28 with former President Donald Trump, who is poised to win the Republican nomination for a third time at the GOP convention.
Democrats will have their convention Aug. 19-22 in Chicago.
Blumenauer has praised Biden in the past, notably for the 2021 law that allocates $1.2 trillion over the next decade for transportation and other infrastructure projects.
Although half went to renewal of federal spending authority for highways and bridges, $550 billion under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act goes to a variety of projects, including the reconnection of communities split apart by construction of interstate highways in the 1950s and 1960s. Blumenauer was its chief advocate. Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Transportation awarded $450 million to the state and $38 million to Portland for the reconnection of Lower Albina, a predominantly Black neighborhood divided by construction of Interstate 5 in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
Blumenauer’s full statement is below:
“No president has had more accomplishments under more difficult circumstances than President Joe Biden. He’s navigated international crises while enacting landmark legislation combating the climate crisis, recovering from COVID, rebuilding and renewing America, and guiding our economic recovery. These are unprecedented achievements. President Biden will be recorded in history as the most successful president in the last 50 years.
“The question before the country is whether the president should continue his candidacy for re-election. This is not just about extending his presidency but protecting democracy.
“While this is a decision for the president and the first lady, I hope they will come to the conclusion that I and others have: President Biden should not be the Democratic presidential nominee.
“It is a painful and difficult conclusion but there is no question in my mind that we will all be better served if the president steps aside as the Democratic nominee and manages a transition under his terms. He has earned that right.
“The next six months will be critical in the implementation of President Biden’s landmark accomplishments that will define his legacy for generations to come. He should devote his energy and undivided attention to issues of war and peace, the climate crisis, and rebuilding and renewing America. I stand willing to assist in any way possible on these critical efforts.”
pwong@pamplinmedia.com
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