Democrats aim to nominate Biden in August; Schiff calls for his withdrawal

California Rep. Adam Schiff on Wednesday became the highest-profile Democrat to call for President Joe Biden to drop his reelection bid, as the party pushed ahead with plans to hold a virtual vote to formally make Biden its nominee in the first week of August before the party's convention opens in person two weeks later.

The move to schedule the roll call vote comes after nearly 20 Democratic members of Congress have called on Biden to withdraw from the presidential race in the wake of his halting debate performance against Republican former President Donald Trump last month. Among Democrats nationwide, nearly two-thirds say Biden should step aside and let his party nominate a different candidate, according to an AP-NORC Centre for Public Affairs Research poll released Wednesday, sharply undercutting his post-debate claim that average Democrats are still with him even if some big names are turning on him.

While the choice to withdraw from the campaign is President Biden's alone, I ..