A new Data for Progress poll finds voters are more concerned about Joe Biden's age than Donald Trump's criminal charges by a 53% to 42% margin. In addition, a full two thirds of voters responded that Biden is too old to be president.
A new CBS News poll finds 73% of voters — including many Democrats — don't think Joe Biden has the cognitive health to serve as president. Nearly half of all Democrats don't think he should be the party's nominee.
A majority of voters — 60% — say President Biden should "definitely" or "probably" be replaced as the Democratic candidate following his performance in Thursday's debate, per a Morning Consult poll. However, when the survey asked respondents to choose between Biden and Donald Trump, 45% chose the president and 44% chose the former commander-in-chief. This was conducted entirey after the debate on Friday of 2,000 registered voters showing Biden gaining a point over Trump. So who the F knows.
"And that looks like the polling looked in January, which is why, as unbelievable as Thursday night was, there is a chance that this race is so locked in because of the incredible partisanship. We may have just seen the equivalent of the Donald Trump can shoot someone on Fifth Avenue moment, but for the Democrats."— Pollster Kristen Soltis Anderson, on CNN, on a CBS News poll showing the Biden-Trump horse race numbers essentially unchanged.
In the two days since Joe Biden gave a horrifically bad debate performance, it seems like half the party believes Democrats need a new nominee and the other half are incredulous that Democrats aren't rallying around the president.
I'd expect some polls in the coming days to help clarify the true extent of this divide. Perhaps it's not as big as it seems right now. But I've never seen anything quite like this.
There are big risks to each side's approach.
Choosing a new nominee in a contested convention could easily tear apart the party.
There's a faction that would insist on sticking with Vice President Kamala Harris. There's a faction that would look to a new but untested candidate like Gavin Newsom or Gretchen Whitmer. And there's always the progressive wing of the party that might seek someone more like Elizabeth Warren.
But sticking with Biden has its own obvious risks.
There's no spinning his debate performance. It was easily the worst I've ever seen because it put a spotlight on his biggest weakness. Even if Biden gives a series of energetic stump speeches and television interviews in the coming weeks, all it takes is another "old man moment" to raise new doubts of whether he can finish a second a term or even do the job at all.
Where Democrats are completely unified is on the need to beat Donald Trump. But there is genuine and honest disagreement about the right path forward.
This probably won't be resolved for a few more weeks — or maybe not until Democratic convention in August.
"You know, Jill, I don't know what happened. I didn't feel that great."— President Biden, quoted by the Wall Street Journal, after the first presidential debate.
Sidney Blumenthal: "I saw western civilization pass before my eyes as Joe Biden drowned."
"I have to also be very honest with you and tell you that I think the president was not terribly articulate to say the least, and he was not focused. He did not defend a very strong record."— Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), quoted by The Hill, on President Biden's debate performance.
"What is there to fucking say? How could somebody not see this coming? I'm just flummoxed."— James Carville, quoted by The Atlantic, on President Biden's poor debate performance.
"I don't walk as easy as I used to. I don't speak as smoothly as I used to. I don't debate as well as I used to. But I know what I do know: I know how to tell the truth. I know right from wrong. And I know how to do this job."— President Biden, quoted by Politico, offering a relatively candid take on his own debate fumble at a rally in North Carolina.
"I understand the concern after the debate. I get it. I didn't have a great night, but I'm going to be fighting harder."— President Biden, quoted by Politico, to a group of Democratic donors.
The first presidential debate was watched by 51.3 million viewers, across 17 networks, Variety reports.
Axios: "The only way President Biden steps aside, despite his debate debacle, is if the same small group of lifelong loyalists who enabled his run suddenly — and shockingly — decides it's time for him to call it quits."
New York Times: "In those first stricken moments after a raspy, rambling and at times incoherent performance, he turned to his wife, Jill Biden… The first lady's message to him was clear: They'd been counted out before, she was all in, and he — they — would stay in the race. Her thinking, according to people close to her, was that it was a bad night. And bad nights end."
"The Democratic Party's perennially nervous donor class descended into deep unease on Friday, as some of the wealthiest people in America commiserated over President Biden's weak debate performance and puzzled over what, if anything, they could do to change the course of the race," the New York Times reports.
"There were discussions with political advisers about arcane rules under which Mr. Biden might be removed from the ticket against his will and replaced at or before the Democratic National Convention."
Los Angeles Times: How Biden resets his campaign since he's likely not going anywhere.
"Before Thursday night's debate, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) had signaled to political allies that he was open to options other than President Biden if his debate performance was disastrous," Axios reports.
"Schumer was clearly bracing for the possibility that his party's presumptive nominee — whom he served with for two decades in the Senate — could have a bad night. Biden did."
"Millions of Americans saw one Joe Biden on Thursday night: halting, hesitant, meandering and looking burdened by every one of his 81 years. Democrats were aghast," the New York Times reports.
"Fourteen hours later, a smaller number of television viewers saw a different Joe Biden: forceful and confident, landing political punches on former President Donald Trump with ease. Democrats in the room cheered."
"Mr. Biden and his allies no doubt wished the appearances had been delivered in reverse order. The tepid and weak debate performance by Joe Biden One caused an immediate freak-out among those determined to see Mr. Trump lose in November. Some publicly broached the unthinkable: a new candidate."
Jonathan Last: "It is possible that Biden's debate performance was a mortal wound and that having Kamala Harris, or Josh Shapiro, or Gavin Newsom as the nominee would result in an even lower win probability. I'm open to that argument."
"But it's an argument that Democrats ought to be having right now. They should be running the traps. Looking at how campaign structures would work. Doing a boatload of polls and focus groups. Figuring out what the money situation would be."
"Can the logistical hurdles be overcome? What would a brokered convention look like? And those are all questions that have to be answered even before you get to who the alternative nominee would be and how the party could build consensus around her or him."
"And if the conclusion is that it's not possible to move forward with another candidate, then the Democratic party has to figure out something. Because this is not a steady-as-she-goes moment. It's a crisis."
New York Times: "High on the list is, of course, Vice President Kamala Harris, whose status as Mr. Biden's running mate might make her an easy candidate for delegates to turn to during a difficult moment. But a crop of Democratic governors and other figures are often mentioned, too."
"A candidate switch would most likely require Mr. Biden to step out of the race, something his campaign says he has no intention of doing. And the risks are real. Some of the highest-profile potential stand-ins listed below have never endured the vetting and road test of a presidential race. There is a long list of candidates who looked great on paper and withered on the campaign trail."
Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC) told USA Today he would support Vice President Kamala Harris taking over the top spot on the ticket if President Biden "ain't there."
Said Clyburn: "I'm a Biden-Harris person, so I'm not getting away from that. I'm for Biden-Harris. I'm going to be for Biden if Harris ain't there and I'm going to be for Harris if Biden ain't there."
However, he urged Democrats to "stay the course" and "chill out."
"Former President Barack Obama, who recovered from a disastrous debate performance to win re-election in 2012, publicly backed President Biden after his poor performance in Thursday's debate against former President Donald Trump," the New York Times reports.
"Mr. Obama also sought to allay concerns among Democrats about keeping Mr. Biden as their presidential nominee."
Said Obama: "Bad debate nights happen. Trust me, I know. But this election is still a choice between someone who has fought for ordinary folks his entire life and someone who only cares about himself."
Daily Beast: Obama rode to Biden's rescue — but intervention could yet come.
Jonathan Chait: "After absorbing the initial waves of shock from Thursday night's debate debacle, allies of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have begun whispering to the media their reasons why the Democratic ticket must consist of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. It is that, if Biden steps aside, the party's only option would be to anoint Harris. If they fail to do so, Black voters would be outraged and register their dismay at the polls (or by refusing to go to the polls), thus ensuring Donald Trump's election."
"The Biden logic then proceeds to its next step: Harris would be a worse nominee than Biden, thus nullifying any reason for him to relinquish his spot on the ticket…"
"Of course, Harris's allies understandably dispute the premise that her nomination would be disastrous. But they very much cooperate with the implied threat that denying her the nomination would rip open mortal wounds in the Democratic coalition."
"And so, by the logic offered by the Biden and Harris teams, the ticket is frozen in place. Biden can't step down because he would have to hand the role to Harris, and the party doesn't trust her in that position. Harris's allies are aiming a gun at the party, Biden is pointing at Harris, pleading his own helplessness."
"Amid all of the Democratic panic-texting prompted by President Joe Biden's shaky debate performance Thursday, one name was curiously absent from many of those conversations: Vice President Kamala Harris," Politico reports.
"Names including California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer trended online as potential replacements for Biden on the Democratic ticket, while Harris — by several measures the most obvious and best-positioned candidate — was left to publicly defend Biden at the single worst moment of their four-year-old political partnership."
"That was to the chagrin of some Harris allies, who are privately expressing frustration that her name is not being mentioned in the same company as other ambitious Democrats. But they can do little about it: Harris is laboring under a de facto mandate to defend him."
New York Times: "The news media, they said, was unfairly fixated on his age. Republicans were posting wildly distorted video clips on social media making him look more feeble than he actually is. Hand-wringing Democrats fretting over the prospect of an octogenarian president turning 86 by the end of a second term were just 'bed-wetters.'"
"Then the debate happened. And now the days of denial at the White House are over. No longer can the president's confidants simply wave away concerns about his capacity after his unsteady performance at Thursday night's showdown with former President Donald Trump. Struggling to contain a brush fire of alarm within the Democratic Party, his team is now forced to confront the issue head on."
Wall Street Journal: The world saw Biden deteriorating. Democrats ignored the warnings.
New York Times: "The 48 hours after the debate were a frenzied campaign within a campaign to save Mr. Biden's suddenly teetering candidacy, a multiday damage-control effort to pressure and plead with anxious Democratic lawmakers, surrogates, activists and donors to stand by the president, the party's presumptive nominee…"
"For now, the divide between the party's most active supporters and its voters, who for more than a year have voiced concerns about the 81-year-old president's fitness for another term, remains as large as ever. Some Democrats are bracing for a drop in polling after his shaky debate performance that could, they say, reignite calls to replace Mr. Biden."
"The all-hands efforts, from Wilmington to Washington, showed the depths of the damage Mr. Biden did to his re-election campaign in a mere 90 minutes. His campaign has been criticized as insular and insistent, so the burst of activity signaled that the debate fallout had turned into a real crisis that spun those in his orbit into a frantic battle mode."
The New York Times editorial board asked President Biden to leave the presidential race:
"At Thursday's debate, the president needed to convince the American public that he was equal to the formidable demands of the office he is seeking to hold for another term. Voters, however, cannot be expected to ignore what was instead plain to see: Mr. Biden is not the man he was four years ago."
"The president appeared on Thursday night as the shadow of a great public servant. He struggled to explain what he would accomplish in a second term. He struggled to respond to Mr. Trump's provocations. He struggled to hold Mr. Trump accountable for his lies, his failures and his chilling plans. More than once, he struggled to make it to the end of a sentence."
The Washington Post editorial page said he should at least cancel his weekend plans to think about dropping out.
Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) said progressives saying they will abandon President Joe Biden over his response to the Israel-Hamas war is "the dumbest shit" he's ever heard, Politico reports.
Said Fetterman: "That whole abandoned Biden thing — that's the dumbest shit I've ever heard. I mean, if you are more inclined to vote for a Democrat or be a Democrat, if you're willing to walk away from Joe Biden — you're by defecting helping Trump."
"Allan Lichtman, the historian who has correctly forecast the results of nine out of the 10 most recent presidential elections argued on Saturday that replacing President Joe Biden could cost Democrats the 2024 election," USA Today reports.
Said Lichtman: "It's a huge mistake. They're not doctors. They don't know whether Biden is physically capable of carrying out a second term or not. This is all foolhardy nonsense."
"It's not just Joe Biden's age. It's not just his debate debacle, which made the president look slow, old, foggy. It's what's next that truly worries even Biden's biggest supporters," Axios reports.
"They fear that if three years as president took this much of a toll, Biden could look, act, sound and feel much worse at 86, after five more years. And Democrats would be devastated if Donald Trump won because voters concluded Biden's time has passed."
"Top Democrats worry Biden's situation hits too close to home for too many to ignore. Most people have watched a loved one decline — at first slowly, then dramatically — as they hit their mid-80s. These Democrats fear the party, not just Biden, would pay for ignoring this."
Axios: "Biden's behavior stunned many in the White House in part because Biden's closest aides — often led by Jill Biden's top aide, Anthony Bernal, and deputy chief of staff Annie Tomasini — took steps early in his term to essentially rope off the president."
"Even the White House's residence staff, which serves the first family in the mansion's living quarters, has been kept at arm's length."
President Biden's "miscues and limitations are more familiar inside the White House," Axios reports.
"The time of day is important…From 10am to 4pm, Biden is dependably engaged — and many of his public events in front of cameras are held within those hours."
"Outside of that time range or while traveling abroad, Biden is more likely to have verbal miscues and become fatigued."
Washington Post: "For a full week, the president sequestered himself at Camp David with more than a dozen aides to prepare for Thursday's presidential debate with former president Donald Trump. He rehearsed answers, met with policy aides and participated in mock debates, with his personal lawyer, Bob Bauer, playing the part of Trump."
"Every topic he was asked about Thursday, he had practiced answers for — including the final one about his age."
"So aides were bewildered by his performance. Many felt they had never seen him collapse so dramatically. After all, Biden was a veteran of numerous debates — as a senator, vice-presidential nominee and presidential candidate. And they did not understand why he gave an entirely different answer on the age question than the one they spent more than a week perfecting."
"The president did not just stumble over words. He appeared to lose his focus and often was unable to finish sentences."
The Bulwark: "Amid the fallout from the president's dire performance in Thursday night's debate, those familiar with Trump's campaign say it remains focused on Biden as the Democrats' de facto nominee. Kamala Harris is and will remain Biden's running mate, they believe. All the panicked chatter among Democrats of her or a swing-state governor replacing Biden atop the ticket is just that: talk."
Said one top GOP insider: "It's a fascinating parlor game. But a lot of it is just mental masturbation. Nothing's changed. He's the sitting president with 90 percent of the delegates committed. I don't care if he's FDR in a fuckin' wheelchair: He's still the sitting president."
Stuart Stevens: "As a former Republican who spent decades pointing out flaws in the Democratic Party, I watch the current Democratic panic over President Biden's debate performance with a mix of bafflement and nostalgia."
"It's baffling that so many Democrats are failing to rally around a wildly successful president after one bad night. But it does remind me of why Republicans defeated Democrats in so many races Republicans should have lost."
"Donald Trump has won one presidential election. He did so with about 46 percent of the popular vote. (Mitt Romney lost with about 47 percent.) The Republican Party lost its mind and decided that this one victory negated everything we know about politics. But it didn't."
"One debate does not change the structure of this presidential campaign. For all the talk of Mr. Biden's off night, what is lost is that Mr. Trump missed a great opportunity to reset his candidacy and greatly strengthen his position."
Rick Wilson: "History is replete with bad debate performances: Clinton's first outing in 1992, George W. Bush's Boston groaner (I was there, and it was awful), and Obama's first showing against John McCain. Debates matter until they don't, but they matter most to the chattering and online classes."
"But there's no spinning it. I won't bother. The herd is moving as herds so."
"With that said, Donald Trump remains an existential threat to democracy, the Republic, the Constitution, and our most fundamental liberties, in addition to being a fraud, a liar, a felon, a degenerate, a sexual assaulter, a global embarrassment, and an ally of evil."
"The race is still a choice between America and Trump."
From the Philadelphia Inquirer editorial board:
"President Joe Biden's debate performance was a disaster. His disjointed responses and dazed look sparked calls for him to drop out of the presidential race."
"But lost in the hand wringing was Donald Trump's usual bombastic litany of lies, hyperbole, bigotry, ignorance, and fear mongering. His performance demonstrated once again that he is a danger to democracy and unfit for office."
"In fact, the debate about the debate is misplaced. The only person who should withdraw from the race is Trump."
David Remnick: "Biden has rightly asserted that the voters regard this election not only as a debate about global affairs, the environment, civil rights, women's rights, and other matters of policy but as a referendum on democracy itself. For him to remain the Democratic candidate, the central actor in that referendum, would be an act not only of self-delusion but of national endangerment."
"To refuse to do so, to go on contending that his good days are more plentiful than the bad, to ignore the inevitability of time and aging, doesn't merely risk his legacy—it risks the election and, most important, puts in peril the very issues and principles that Biden has framed as central to his Presidency and essential to the future."
President Biden's campaign on Saturday night, in a fundraising appeal to supporters, said the president dropping out would only "lead to weeks of chaos" and leave the eventual replacement weakened ahead of a November faceoff with Donald Trump, ABC News reports.
"A sense of concern is growing inside the top ranks of the Democratic Party that leaders of Joe Biden's campaign and the Democratic National Committee are not taking seriously enough the impact of the president's troubling debate performance earlier in the week," the AP reports.
"DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison and Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez held a Saturday afternoon call with dozens of committee members across the country, a group of some of the most influential members of the party. They largely ignored Biden's weak showing Thursday night or the avalanche of criticism that followed."
"Multiple committee members on the call, most granted anonymity to talk about the private discussion, described feeling like they were being gaslighted — that they were being asked to ignore the dire nature of the party's predicament. The call, they said, may have worsened a widespread sense of panic among elected officials, donors and other stakeholders."
After his disastrous debate performance, President Biden is "expected to discuss the future of his re-election campaign with family at Camp David on Sunday," NBC News reports.
Said one source: "The decision-makers are two people — it's the president and his wife. Anyone who doesn't understand how deeply personal and familial this decision will be isn't knowledgeable about the situation."
CNN: "While the family is expected to discuss the events of the past week, multiple senior advisers insisted to CNN on Saturday that the gathering was not aimed at discussing whether the president would remain in the race — even as he is facing immense pressure from some to drop out."
Washington Post: How an aging Biden and his advisers locked in a decision to run again.
Playbook: "Typically, when a family has a therapy session, they do it behind closed doors. They voice their feelings and inner thoughts. Ideally, they can trust in one another. And they welcome the conversation, even if painful, because it can bring about a better future."
"What we're witnessing right now in the Democratic Party has none of that."
"Yes, there are attempts at reassurance and repair after Biden's cataclysmic debate performance on Thursday night… But the Biden campaign is also meeting expressions of grief, dread and fear with a weird slurry of gaslighting, denial and even mockery directed at those consultants, strategists and former staffers who have gone public with their concerns about the president."
"Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) on Sunday said the Democratic Party will need President Biden to play a vital role at the Democratic National Convention in August, regardless of whether he will be the party's presidential nominee," The Hill reports.
Said Raskin: "So, we're having a serious conversation about what to do. One thing I can tell you is that regardless of what President Biden decides… our party is going to be unified and our party also needs him at the very center of our deliberations in our campaign."
He added: "And so, whether he's the candidate or someone else is the candidate, he is going to be the keynote speaker at our convention. He will be the figure that we rally around to move forward and beat the forces of authoritarianism and reaction in the country."
"President Biden sought to extinguish anxieties among top Democratic donors Saturday following a disastrous debate performance that raised alarm about his age and ability to remain the party's presumptive nominee, as the White House worked to keep the party fully behind the president," the Wall Street Journal reports.
"The task at hand was significant. Some donors who attended events doubted that Biden, 81, could win the election if he stayed on the ticket. One donor who went to a weekend event wanted to tell the president in person that he should step aside and lamented not having the opportunity to do so. The donor described the gathering as a 'joyless' event that only fueled more concerns about the president."
"Some donors described one of the events as overly controlled, with Biden reading from a teleprompter and providing little one-on-one time for meaningful exchanges with the donors who propel the campaign."
New York Times: The question dividing Biden donors: Make a new plan or double down?
Brian Klaas: "Republican fealty to Donald Trump—no matter his crimes, no matter his moral transgressions—is the hallmark of authoritarian devotion to a man, regardless of policies or ideas. It's the telltale sign of a broken political party—one that long ago abandoned principles and values, falling back instead on an amoral, unwavering allegiance, by which Trump can do no wrong."
"By contrast, the Democratic freak-out over Joe Biden is a sign of a healthy political party. Individual leaders—no matter how effective, decent, or well-intentioned—are not sacred cows, to be valued above the national interest. Democrats view Biden the way that normal political parties view their leaders: as a vessel to achieve policy goals that will improve the lives of citizens. Nothing more, nothing less."
Dan Balz: "More than half a century ago, an embattled Democratic president decided unexpectedly not to run for reelection. The month was March, the year was 1968 and the president was Lyndon B. Johnson."
"The fight to replace Johnson led to discord and violence. The Democratic National Convention in Chicago brought tumult inside the convention hall and bloody clashes between police and anti-Vietnam War demonstrators in the streets. The party nominated Johnson's vice president, Hubert Humphrey, but Democrats left Chicago divided and demoralized. The result was the election of Republican Richard M. Nixon."
"No one is suggesting anything close to a rerun of those events this summer. But that extraordinary stretch of 1968 is a reminder that this week's talk of replacing President Biden as the Democratic nominee comes with no easy solution and many potential unintended consequences."
"Fears about the authoritarian potential of a second Trump presidency alarm Democrats, many independents and even some Republicans. The goal of defeating former president Donald Trump unites Democrats. Yet after Biden's struggles in Thursday's debate, the best way to prevent Trump from becoming president again divides them."
Tom Nichols: "I have been harshly critical of calls for President Joe Biden to step down. I have argued with people across the political spectrum about this, including friends and colleagues. I think Biden has had a successful first term and that his age has been no barrier to his effectiveness as a leader. I still believe that. And if the choice this fall is between Biden and a man who I believe is a mentally unstable menace to American democracy, I won't think twice about my vote."
"But Donald Trump must be defeated, and after last night's debate, I am no longer sure that Biden is electable. Politics can be a miserable business that too often turns on perceptions, and for the president, the debate was a full-blown, Hindenburg-level disaster."
George Will: "Perhaps the nation is by now in a torpor, resigned to the spectacle of, as the phrase goes, two bald men fighting over a comb. Perhaps, however, Thursday night — the campaign's nadir (so far) — was for the best. The Democratic Party might yet give a thought to the national interest. Persisting with Biden's candidacy, which is as sad as it is scary, rather than nominating a plausible four-year president, would rank as the most reckless — and cruel — act ever by a U.S. party."
Nick Catoggio: "The race will now be a referendum not just on his first term but on his ability to remain lucid during a second, and there's no way to undo the impression he left at the debate with respect to that. He can't win anymore."
"Against all odds, the Democratic Party has maneuvered itself into placing a disgraced, vindictive authoritarian on a glide path to returning to office. Donald J. Trump, criminal sociopath, will now be seen by swing voters as the less unfit of their two options, God help us."
Susan Glasser: "Biden struggled so much that even several scathing pre-planned lines failed to land with any force, as when he brought up Trump's hush-money conviction and said, 'You have the morals of an alley cat,' or when he fumbled over himself saying that Trump was the first President since Herbert Hoover to lose as many American jobs. Sure, Trump was also rambling and incoherent, but at a much louder decibel level. He looked and sounded healthier; Biden was literally painful to watch."
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