Austin Rep. Lloyd Doggett's first call for Biden to withdraw sparked a national movement

The lonely cry from U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, earlier this month for President Joe Biden to step aside mushroomed into a national movement that ended with the Democratic incumbent ending his presidential reelection campaign with a Sunday morning bombshell.

Doggett, Texas' most senior member of Congress, brought with his July 2 call the gravitas of a 50-year political career that closely mirrors that of the beleaguered president's. A liberal but not a congressional bomb-thrower, Doggett praised Biden's first-term achievements but mixed in a withering assessment of the president's disastrous debate performance a week earlier.

In the moments after Biden's announcement reverberated across the political landscape Sunday, Doggett praised the president's decision, calling it "selfless."

"Once again President Biden comes through for America, putting country over ego in a way that Donald Trump never could," the 29-year congressional veteran said in a statement first posted on social media. "Now we must move forward to offer a nominee who can win over disaffected voters and energize Democrats.

More: Joe Biden drops out of 2024 race amid growing pressure from top Democrats

"When I respectfully called for President Biden to step aside almost three weeks ago, I recognized that this would be a painful and difficult decision, not unlike that faced long ago under different circumstances by President Lyndon B. Johnson."

With his announcement, Biden became the first president eligible to seek reelection to forgo a run since Johnson stood down in 1968. The announcement also spells the end of a planned fundraiser in Austin on Saturday, an organizer who is not authorized to speak publicly on the matter confirmed to the American-Statesman.

The 36th president's daughters praised Biden for his "selfless service" to the nation.

"President Biden, you are a patriot without peer," Luci Baines Johnson and Lynda Johnson Robb posted on the LBJ Foundation's social media platforms.

"Once more you have given all a person can for our country. As the daughters of another president who gave his all for America, we are so proud of you again as we always have been."

The implications of Biden's decision could be a game changer in Texas heading into the final months of a spirited election cycle. The state has been solidly Republican for decades, but incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz is facing a well-funded challenge from U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, D-Dallas, who needs a united party behind him for any chance to be competitive in the Nov. 5 election.

Additionally, Democrats in South Texas, whose races in a previously solidly Democratic region might have been taken for granted in years past, are being targeted by Republicans this year.

'The great record'

Former Texas Lt. Gov. Ben Barnes, a Democrat who has known Biden since the early days of his national political career, which began in 1972, said history will treat Biden the president and Biden the man generously.

More: When Lloyd Doggett called on Biden to stand down, it was one old pro talking to another

"I think it means a lot for Biden's legacy," Barnes told the Statesman. "Biden has a chance to be one of the most appreciated one-term presidents that we've ever had. He had a very good record, and by getting out of the line of fire and not having to run a campaign he had a chance to lose, the historians and other observers of American political history, it will hurry them to start talking about the great record that Biden had."

Allred echoed statements that praised Biden's decision to stand aside, even at the late date in the campaign.

"I thank President @JoeBiden for his service and his willingness to put country before self," the Democrat said on X. "It’s something we need more of in our politics. My sincere hope is that this moment brings our nation one step closer to healing, uniting and fixing our broken politics.

Veteran Texas Democratic operative Matt Angle said Doggett deserves credit for first saying out loud what other leaders in his party were only whispering.

"I think Lloyd showed leadership and he showed insight," Angle said. "His judgment was highly respected before then; it has always been highly respected. That doesn't surprise anybody. But it took some real courage to step out as early as he did, and he should get credit for that."

Barnes, whose career in politics dates back to the 1960s, said it's too soon for Texans to war game the implications of Biden's announcement on the 2024 cycle.

"We got to wait to see," Barnes said. "Texas is a red state, and we can't really start thinking (about whether) this has an impact on the down-ballot races. We have to see what the ticket is and see what the issues are."

Angle said Biden's decision allows Democrats in Texas to move on from the "should-he-or-shouldn't-he" debate that dominated headlines before Sunday's announcement and instead focus on the message they hope to send to voters. And he called that a net plus for the party.

"The contrast between a capable and strong and youthful Kamala Harris versus burnt-out, broken-down and destructive Donald Trump helps every Democrat, I don't care where you are on the ballot," Angle said. "But most of all, there's clarity how Democrats can stop talking to each other about what might be and instead put laser focus on the damage that Donald Trump and every other Republican will do."

Republican operative Matt Mackowiack, who chairs the Travis County GOP, said that assuming Democrats follow Biden's lead and nominate Kamala Harris, she will have to defend Biden's record as if it were her own.

"I don't know any Republicans that are afraid of running against Kamala Harris," he said.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Lloyd Doggett was first Democrat to urge Biden to drop out of race