Biden, from Congress to Hollywood grows the fray to withdraw from the White House race

They are all or most of them elected in battleground states or seats, centrists who see at risk any chance not only of winning the White House again but of retaining Democratic majorities in the Senate and wresting them from the House. They are often seen as crucial to the fates of the party among swathes of independent voters considered decisive in the polls. What they are staging is an apparent betrayal of a leader, Biden, who himself boasts a tradition of being a moderate.

On the contrary, it is the more progressive wing, from Senator Bernie Sanders to Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who so far remains in the majority publicly and paradoxically siding with Biden. He often holds safe seats and considers Biden, despite differences and disagreements, to be the President who has implemented the most liberal policies in generations, citing industrial plans, energy transition plans and his defence of abortion rights.

But the anti-Biden faction has more crowded ranks than just politicians. TV network host George Stephanopoulos, a media personality and former close associate of Bill Clinton who recently interviewed Biden, was caught on video saying he does not believe the President is capable of winning and completing a new term. A former speechwriter for Barack Obama described the coexistence of two Biden's in calling for him to step aside, the successful statesman of recent years, committed to the common good, charged with empathy and forged in battles; and the stubborn old man charged with resentment, short-sighted and arrogant. He asked him to choose the first identity in order to preserve his legacy.More: revolt is brewing among donors and personalities.

One of the big Democratic fundraisers in Hollywood, movie star George Clooney, has published an op-ed in the New York Times in the last few hours stating that, with all affection and admiration, Biden must step aside because he is no longer the man of other campaigns, of 2010 but not even of 2020. He saw him recently and up close at a big fundraiser he had organised for him and the judgement is lapidary: 'He is the same man we all saw in the debate'. That debate with Trump, that is, which raised the spectre of a serious decline of the elderly Democratic leader, amidst choppy and confused phrases.

Also irritating and worrying to many in the party and among supporters was the defence chosen by Biden and his inner circle, based on attacks on critics, who were portrayed as elites and the media responsible for a conspiracy to oust him. An argument that reminded some of Trumpian attitudes. As did his denial of reality, calling the polls that rejected him false. It was not helped by an apparently egocentric stance in which he said he would be satisfied if he gave his all in the campaign even if he lost. Nor dogmatic claims that he is the only one who can beat Trump.

His own traditional support base is by no means immune to nervousness. Biden stopped by the Afl-Cio union headquarters yesterday to cite support for his candidacy, but soon after the meeting rumours emerged of 'serious doubts' expressed by major union leaders about Biden's real chances of winning in November. They impute to him a lack of focus and concrete strategy. The electorate at large, in the polls, also continues to regard him as too old for the rigours of the White House today.

Biden retains the staunch support of his family, from his son Hunter to his wife Jill. His personal scepticism in the party machine is rooted in past pressures that forced him to drop out of the 2016 race against Trump, because it was Hillary Clinton's turn, who was then defeated. And he has a solid reservoir of support among African-Americans, in the union, among influential governors such as California's Gavin Newsom, and in a significant segment of Democratic notables who at least fear it is already too late to effectively change the standard-bearer.

It appears to be precisely this, on balance, Biden's strategy of resistance: to stall until it becomes clear to everyone that change is impossible. He would even push to bring forward the counting of delegates for the formal nomination to the beginning instead of the end of the August Democratic Convention in Chicago, to avoid tensions and surprises in the hall.In the meantime, he has been holding more rallies and television interviews to try to dispel the image of fragility. He will have a press conference this evening from the NATO summit in Washington and a TV appearance on Nbc on Monday night to coincide with the start of the Republican Convention in Milwaukee. However, these are often limited interventions, prepared and read with the teleprompter. Spontaneous initiatives, where he has shown slips, remain rare. Whether his efforts to stay in the saddle will be successful is a question seeking an answer. Perhaps soon this answer will be there.