Top House lawmaker privately urges Biden to hear out fellow Dems amid electability concerns

Rep. Jamie Raskin privately urged Joe Biden in a letter earlier this month to hear out fellow Democrats as he makes a decision about whether to stay in the presidential race.

Raskin — the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee and a previous Donald Trump impeachment manager — didn’t echo other Democrats’ calls for Biden to drop out of the race in the July 6 letter .

Instead, the Maryland Democrat spent much of the four-page letter praising Biden and his legacy, saying that he is writing with “boundless admiration, affection and solidarity.” But notably, Raskin ended the letter by comparing Biden to Pedro Martínez — a Boston Red Sox starting pitcher whose extended time in a famous playoff game is widely seen as contributing to the team losing a shot at the World Series in 2003.

“There is no shame in taking a well deserved bow to the overflowing appreciation of the crowd when your arm is tired out, and there is real danger for the team in ignoring the statistics,” Raskin wrote in the letter, which was obtained by POLITICO.

“Your situation is tricky because you are both our star pitcher and our Manager. But in democracy, as you have shown us more than any prior president, you are not a Manager acting all alone; you are the co-manager along with our great team and our great people. Caucus with the team, Mr. President. Hear them out. You will make the right decision,” Raskin concluded.

The Raskin letter is the latest in a series of leaks about behind-the-scenes pressure on Biden — which have ranged from calls for open discussions with fellow Democrats to increasingly public efforts in corners of the party to get him to drop out of the race.

Top Democrats like former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer have all expressed deep concerns directly to Biden about the party’s chances in November with him at the top of the ticket. And on Wednesday, another leading House Democrat and likely soon-to-be senator, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), publicly called on Biden to drop out of the race — the 20th congressional Democrat to do so .

And Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) told POLITICO on Thursday that he believes more Democrats will go public with their concerns over the weekend.

It all underscores pervasive fears within the Democratic Party that Biden is on track to lose to Trump in November and that such a loss could also drag down House Democrats.

In a statement Thursday, Raskin confirmed he sent the letter, which was first reported by The New York Times. He also said that his “point was that we needed a strategic internal discussion about how to move forward to decisively win the election, which is of immeasurable importance to the future of America.”

And while the letter was written over the July Fourth weekend, Raskin said Thursday that the views expressed in his letter remain unchanged.

“The letter expressed my profound affection for the president, my great concern for the future of the country and my confidence in the judgment he would make. None of those things has changed,” he said.

Though Biden has been publicly adamant that he is staying in the race with no intentions to step aside, some Democrats who want him to withdraw are feeling increasingly confident that Biden and top aides are starting to listen to their concerns, three people familiar with private conversations told POLITICO .