Politico reporter: Biden's age prompts whispers from top Democrats ahead of 2024

Jonathan Martin joins me now and Jonathan it's what I've been referring to is the Washington nonversation It's the topic everybody talks about but nobody wants to be on the record for I'm amazed you got one member of Congress on the record Yeah, I finally decided to break the seal if you will Chuck on that on that nonversation and try to get it flowing out in the public and yeah Dean Phillips who's an interesting fellow he is a I'm in a soda who was a business executive and quite wealthy woman for coming to Congress I think from that world He feels liberated and bold to speak plainly in a way Chuck that other members of Congress do but only privately and off the record And I think that's what's so striking about this moment is there's this cynicism right now in the Democratic Party That reminds me of the last president and his party in which a lot of members of Congress would trash Trump behind his back But wouldn't say it in public Democrats don't dislike Biden, but they're very fond of him personally They just have concerns about nominating someone who's gonna be 82 years old when he would start a second term and even more delicately Chuck as you know the question of if not Biden who is is That much tougher for them to answer and that's the issue here, right? If there were an obvious heir apparent So, you know whether this is fair or not if there were more confidence in vice president Harris This would be a different conversation you think that's exactly right and you saw the VP's look there Which said more than her actual words, which was Not not very pleasant but to get that question But because she knows the chatter as she put her phrase it's persistent It has been going on for the last two years and it shows no sign of a beating and yes Chuck if I had a dime, I'm sure same with you for every Democrat who said yeah I'm not so sure nominating Biden's a great idea, but who else we got what's the backup plan? What's the alternative? I'd be a pretty wealthy columnist because that's what you hear a lot of there's just no obvious Plan B which is itself a swipe at the VP because there's just not a lot of confidence Chuck that she could win a general election If Donald Trump's candidacy imploded in the next six months, and he was not Running all of a sudden does that change the conversation among Democrats? I I think it could because I think so much of this conversation is predicated on Gotta stop Trump gotta keep Trump out Biden's the safe play three yards on a cloud loss Yeah, let's just keep the ball on the ground I think again if they wake up on Labor Day of this year even later, Halloween's it? Oh my gosh, Trump's probably not gonna be their public and standard bearer We could nominate an oxygenary and I get somebody half of his age I do think Democrats will look at this differently the other indicator Chuck I keep an eye on is these polls of Democratic voters Do Democratic voters keep saying that they want somebody else as their nominee in 24 because if that doesn't change I think that could also important somebody else to get that to me is the most remarkable thing here is how the Insider crowd is more fired up about his reelection than the actual rank-and-file voters. Normally that is flipped Right normally, you know, you know, but think of Bill Clinton and the insider crowd wanted to run him out of town in 98 And it was voters to say no, no, you know Yeah, and I Chuck I think that's because of the VP because so many Democratic lawmakers know that if they say To the first question of do you want Biden to run the answer is no They know damn well the second question that we're gonna ask is okay Then are you for the VP and they don't want to answer that question So I think a lot of the sort of impulse to stick with Biden. He's the incumbent. He's our nominee I think a lot of that is because it gets them off the hook for that second question Chuck Look, is there some thought of like whatever if hey You gotta give vice president Harris more opportunities to sort of create confidence because there's no other way out of this right now So why don't they try to find ways to help her improve her image? Well, that gets to the heart of the friction that you know exists in the White House between sort of the Biden staff and the Harris staff Because yes the Harris staff and the VP herself for some time have sort of crave that give her more of her own Opportunities to get out there and show her stuff. I think in fairness you have seen some of that She's in Munich right now sitting down With with Andrea Mitchell. I think her speech in Tallahassee a month ago Talking about abortion rights in the capital of Florida. So you are seeing some signs of that But Chuck, I think the bottom line is the West Wing doesn't fully trust her to go out there and execute consistently No, and in fairness to her The West Wing of the Obama West Wing never had a lot of trust in a vice president named Joe Biden.

So It brings about there. There is something there that is that is a bit familiar Jonathan Martin potster. Good to good to good to see you having some success with that column my friend Thank you, sir. Appreciate it. You got it Thanks for watching our YouTube channel follow today's top stories and breaking news by downloading the NBC news app.

Meet the Press NOW, NBC News NOW