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Jen O’Malley Dillon in the Oval Office of the White House meeting with President Joe Biden in May of 2023 (Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz)
It was a tough week for the Biden campaign – and presumably for Franklin-raised campaign manager Jennifer O’Malley Dillon.
Here in Massachusetts, Democrat Sen. Jason Lewis of Winchester called for President Joe Biden to step down as the party’s nominee for president in the race against former President Donald Trump this fall, following the nationally televised debate between the candidates Thursday night.
"President Biden has contributed a lifetime of distinguished public service to our nation. In 2020, he rose to the challenge of defeating Donald Trump and restoring dignity and honor to the presidency," Lewis posted on X Friday morning. "Under his leadership, our country has made tremendous progress. But now it is time for him to step aside."
Lewis called for an open Democratic Party convention this summer to select a presidential nominee to run in November. "Our party has many younger leaders who are experienced, talented, and ready to step up and defeat Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans," he wrote.
In the hours after the debate ended, Democrats of all levels faced questions about the president's performance. Several national outlets have reported that some in the party are considering alternatives to Biden and prominent media and political supporters have joined the chorus.
Even Gov. Maura Healey -- a staunch Biden supporter who has been campaigning for the president -- told reporters Friday afternoon that the president's debate performance was "tough to watch."
"Joe Biden had a bad debate performance — it was tough to watch," Healey said at the State House on Friday, according to a video posted to X by Politico reporter Kelly Garrity.
But former White House deputy chief of staff Jen O’Malley Dillon, who grew up in Franklin, and has led the campaign since late January, is not one of the doubters.
O’Malley Dillon, was Biden’s 2020 campaign manager, and has considered part of Biden's trusted inner circle. Indeed, when O'Malley Dillon's father, long-time Franklin educator Dr. Kevin O'Malley died in March 2022, First Lady Jill Biden came to Franklin to attend the funeral at St. Mary's church.
O'Malley Dillon is the first female presidential campaign manager for a winning Democratic ticket. She attended Tufts University, where she majored in political science. Locally, she has shared her political expertise with Franklin High School students on multiple occasions.
A Saturday afternoon Democrat National Committee call reportedly had many unhappy participants, but, according to an Associated Press report, in a memo issued immediately after the call, O’Malley Dillon ignored critics.
“On every metric that matters, data shows it did nothing to change the American people’s perception, our supporters are more fired up than ever, and Donald Trump only reminded voters of why they fired him four years ago and failed to expand his appeal beyond his MAGA base,” O’Malley Dillon wrote, according to AP.
She added, again quoting the AP report, “If we do see changes in polling in the coming weeks, it will not be the first time that overblown media narratives have driven temporary dips in the polls.”
