‘Bedwetting brigade’

Even as they project unity, Democrats are taking new steps to limit internal dissent.

State party officials sent an email to elected Democratic officials on Monday stocked with pro-Biden talking points along with a note urging them to think twice before speaking to the media.

“While reporters are typically friendly — they talk to people for a living — they should not be considered friends and they can’t write something you don’t say,” the memo states.

And the campaign has vilified pundits and others who have raised alarms about Biden, panning “self-important podcasters” and the “bedwetting brigade” as chaos agents who would hand the election to Trump.

The approach has so far worked. While some senior Georgia Democrats have vented their fears about Biden’s candidacy in text groups and quiet conversations, none have publicly denounced him, worried that airing concerns amounts to a betrayal.

Several said privately that in a state as competitive as Georgia, where fewer than 12,000 votes divided Biden and Trump in 2020, breaking ranks could discourage some of the party’s most loyal supporters from voting. U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams, the state party’s chair, pointed to Biden’s more robust appearances since the debate.

“My president didn’t do a great job. We all saw that with our own eyes,” she told the “Politically Georgia” podcast. “But what he has done is a damn good job as president over the last 3 1/2 years.”

‘I believe’

Still, a small number of more junior current and former Democratic officials are speaking out.

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