One of Biden's Top Aides Once Expressed Major Doubt in His Ability To Beat Trump
A campaign aide who was recently hired by presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden previously warned that the former vice president might not have what it takes to beat President Donald Trump.
Jenn Ridder was hired by the Biden campaign this week to work as states director, and will focus on deploying the campaign’s resources in battleground states, Politico reported.
Ridder previously worked as campaign manager for Democratic Colorado Gov. Jared Polis’ successful 2018 gubernatorial campaign.
She also helped to oversee campaign operations at the state level in Colorado for former President Barack Obama in 2012 and in 2008.
Ridder most recently worked as the campaign manager for Democratic Montana Gov. Steve Bullock’s short-lived presidential campaign, which he suspended in December of last year.
With her background in mind, it’s safe to say she is quite familiar with Biden and the dynamics of the Democratic Party.
But while working for Bullock last September, Ridder made a particularly astute assessment of Biden that shows she might be knowledgeable beyond her experience with regard to national campaigning, and in particular, the challenges facing Biden.
She expressed concern to Bullock’s donors that Biden might not be able to beat Trump in a general election matchup.
Attempting to salvage Bullock’s sinking campaign, Ridder sent a memo to his donors warning that Biden and the party’s far-left candidates might not be able to mount campaigns strong enough to defeat Trump in 2020.
“Again and again, we hear from Democratic primary voters that the most important quality in a candidate is their ability to beat Trump next November,” she wrote in the September 2019 memo attempting to inspire donors, CNN reported at the time.
Ridder continued, evaluating Biden as potentially not having the goods.
“At the same time, there is a growing fear that the candidates promising revolutions are out of step with general election voters while others fear Vice President Biden may be unable to take down Trump,” she wrote.
The memo made it clear that in Ridder’s mind, Biden might be doomed to lose, and that Democrats needed an electable alternative.
She went also after the Democratic National Committee in the memo for allegedly interfering in the primary.
“The DNC inserted itself in this process in an unprecedented way,” Ridder wrote in her plea to Bullock’s donors. “But Governor Bullock has always trusted voters (especially those in the early states) to make a careful and deliberate decision.”
Bullock dropped out after his message failed to to resonate with voters, and Ridder moved on.
With no Democratic alternative available to take on Trump, Ridder is now working for a man she she previously said might not be up to the task of challenging the president.
She has also now embraced the Democratic establishment which pushed out other candidates to make room for the victories that have made Biden the party’s presumptive nominee, by virtue of the fact that she is being paid to campaign on behalf of Biden.
It is impossible to determine if Ridder actually believed that Biden was unelectable when she authored the memo, or if she had some sort of sudden epiphany about his viability as a candidate when she took the job this week.
In either event, questions about Biden’s electability are being asked much more now than they were in September. And Ridder was ahead of the curve with regard to asking those questions.
Now Biden’s campaign, which is struggling to make the candidate visible to voters and to dispel a notion his mental acuity is slipping, is employing a high-level staffer who was on record not too long ago warning Democrats that he might not be electable.
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