By Adam Pagnucco.
President Joe Biden’s disastrous debate performance last week demoralized Democrats and caused many to ask whether he should withdraw from the race. Accordingly, I asked my source network this off-the-record question the following day:
“Given last night’s debate, should Biden drop out? If so, what should the new Dem ticket be?”
Before getting to the responses, let’s bear in mind who my source network is: the elected officials, key government staffers, interest group leaders and activists who collectively run Montgomery County. These folks pay close attention to politics at all levels. Let’s also remember the special role that Montgomery County has: it is embedded in federal institutions, political and otherwise, and is one of the most important sources in the country for Democratic money. (It’s also key for GOP fundraising.) So these people matter a lot.
Following is a stream of raw reactions to what happened, mostly offered within 24 hours of the debate. The immediate heat may cool with time and subsequent events. But in that moment, here is a sample of responses divided into three broad categories: drop out, stay in or uncertain.
Yes, Biden Should Drop Out
I think he should drop out. Last night was bad. I couldn’t sleep afterwards thinking about it. It seems like the simplest thing to do is for Kamala Harris to take over and for some rising star governor to take her place as VP, like Josh Shapiro or something.
Yes. He should drop out. Every chat I’m in is in a panic. He has a tremendous record. But we needed him to disprove the GOP narrative so we could get those swing states, young people etc. Instead he *reinforced* the narrative. It isn’t just this race, it’s everyone down ballot in close races in close states who needs a bit of coattails. There will be no coattails.
Yes, Biden should drop out. Not sure who should be on the ticket as I don’t know all the options. I certainly wouldn’t scoff at the suggestion of Wes Moore, as he has been one of my favorite leaders. But I don’t pretend to know the whole field.
Yes. He should. No clue on new ticket, though.
Yes. Gavin Newsom. And a different VP not from California.
Yes and I think it would be seen as a mainly heroic effort to save democracy. Whitmer at the top. Don’t care who is VP.
Yes. Whitmer-Moore.
Yeah, Harris-Buttigieg.
Yes. I like Whitmer for top of ticket. Battleground, woman, kidnapping plot by MAGA crowd, etc. etc. Not sure about running mate.
Yes. Vice-President Harris and anyone from Arizona, Nevada, Wisconsin, Ohio, Texas or Michigan. Harris should be president, not someone else who is not on the ticket.
Yes. Newsom-Moore. With the caveat, I think all viable contenders would outperform Biden at this point and would support anyone. And I think the Biden admin has had the most productive four years of any President since FDR despite many challenges. But I don’t see how he wins. It’s just too risky especially with this political climate. One physical fall or stumble between now and election day would be a death blow for Biden’s chances. Would you bet a beer on Biden not stumbling between now and then? Then how about our democracy? Can’t risk Trump again.
Yes, and the presidential nominee should be selected by a group with experience in making such decisions: the Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee. But in all seriousness, a new nominee should be picked at the convention in August, which gives candidates 7 weeks to make their case to Democrats across the country.
Time to go! Drop out Joe! I can hear it being chanted in the streets like hey hey LBJ, how many kids did you kill today? I think you throw it to an open convention. If you can’t have primaries that’s the next best option, not people like me and much higher ranking dictating outcomes. See who can organize and get it done among the delegates.
As a condition of dropping out, he might insist that Harris be the nominee. I hope he’ll drop out and release his delegates. The convention exposure would do a lot to create an air of legitimacy for, and boost, the eventual nominee. I think Whitmer is the best choice in terms of rep, geography, gender.
It’s messy. I do think Biden should drop out because he is no longer coherent. He likely can’t make accurate, critical decisions when he has slowed down to this degree, and I think it makes the US appear vulnerable. Best case but unlikely scenario, both Biden and Harris step down. We absolutely cannot win with Harris at the top of the ticket and it’s an insult for her to stay VP. Unless Dems bring in someone exceptionally experienced as the Pres. nominee, then it’s not as terrible an insult. I have some thoughts on names but we’ll see who emerges in 3-5 days. That will be telling. Although I really don’t think he’s going to budge.
He should, but he never will.
Maybe Biden Should Drop Out
We would have to look at the overall logistics of getting certified to be on all the state ballots. If we can get another candidate on all the blue and purple ballots, then I think that Biden should drop out because of electability. I would be for a Jamie Raskin match up with Donald Trump.
It would be smart to explore what it looks like to replace him. They have to work on this fast.
Should he? Maybe 6 months ago. What would the process be? An honest forthright explanation of his challenges could be good for the country. Create sympathy for him. But the ticket, hmmm?!? I don’t think there’s enough support for Harris, but there would also be backlash for cutting her out.
Yeah that was a rough night. I kinda wish they refused to debate the charged felon. Also, I feel like they should have just stepped back and allowed for a primary. We could have had the opportunity to let folks like Gov. Whitmer, Pete B, Kamala, etc. have open lanes. I still think a few things – Dems have done well since Dobbs and have been overperforming. One bad night isn’t necessarily the end – smarter folks have noted Obama’s first debate. But yeah, I wish we could have other options and this is coming from a Biden person!
We need to wait to see what things look like a week from now.
No, Biden Should Stay In
No. Chill.
No. He stunk. But Dems are such babies.
Nope. Too late.
No it’s too late to find a better candidate (Kamala Harris is not up to it). Biden needs to do a bunch of interviews, speeches, press conferences, etc. to show that last night’s performance was just a bad day with a bad cold and power through.
No. He had a bad night. Happens to all of us. Frankly, you don’t see Republicans giving two links about Trump lying his ass off or being convicted of a felony. We need to be more like them. All the talk this morning was about Biden being quiet or mumbling a little, nothing about the serial liar talking about post-birth abortions and other BS, right-wing fantasies.
No. I just don’t think anyone else could win at this point. He should never have run in the first place. His #1 job as a Dem in 2020 should have been to find his replacement nominee for 2024. We just don’t have a bench. Buttigieg? Cory Booker?
No. Joe Biden is a guy who’s been kicked around and beaten up his entire life and he always bounces back and he will this time as well.
He should not drop out. But if he did it should be Gavin Newsom and our current VP.
No. The truth is, there is no candidate who can unify the party. Most of the speculation about replacement skips over the logical successor (VP Harris) in a mix of misogyny and racism, and would create a fractured a chaotic convention and 4 months. Biden had a bad night, but voters outside of the bubbles who watched the debate weren’t pushed away from Biden and found Trump reprehensible. Reports from Democrats and Republicans consistently find Biden to be sharp in internal meetings and not missing any steps. Democrats love to panic. Right now, they need to focus in on beating Trump and maintaining the Republic. Honestly, we can would’ve, could’ve, should’ve (to quote Taylor Swift) all we want to. Biden is our nominee. Now’s the time to get to work, not to dream of a different world.
Gut reaction: yes. Thinking harder: no. 1. We just have to work our butts off to get those swing states. 2. There’s no one to take his spot who can rally enough support that fast, or at least no one I can identify.
No. It’s one debate. He could recover.
Don’t think he should drop out yet. If polling gets worse I reserve the right to update this. I’d probably prefer Raphael Warnock if it were me.
Staying in is probably the least worst option. Have a hard time imagining the party coalescing around a candidate that quickly and being able to raise the money necessary to build name ID. That said, if Biden drops out, I think Governor Moore would be an ideal candidate. If he can get Oprah to stump and secure the support of the Obamas, he would move the needle and excite people. Plus, very little baggage.
It’s too late for that. We risk losing the White House and looking like we’ve lost already. I doubt many people will switch to Trump because of last night. They may sit out or skip that vote, but if that’s the case, how does having a less known candidate generate more excitement with such a short runway? The DNC convention is a month and a half away.
I think everyone is overreacting a bit in the moment. Frankly none of last night surprised me much. It’s precisely why Biden tricked them [the Trump team] into doing this so early. Hoping it will be a distant memory by November… People just need to hold their noses and vote for Biden. He’ll be surrounded by good people who support the right policies. He’s an old man who is gaffe prone and inarticulate. He was hoarse and meandering. But he can still sit in a meeting and make reasonable calls on abortion, foreign affairs, etc. I think an open convention or some other nonsense will inject chaos into an already dicey election cycle and ultimately not be good.
He’s not going to drop out. Biden needs to continue to demonstrate his focus on governing, while Trump focuses on being the best golfer in the universe. I do think it’s fascinating to hear Democrats talk about some high bar for Biden that he didn’t make, all while not addressing the point that Trump is not qualified to be president and couldn’t make it over a one centimeter bar.
The Last Word
The fight over who would replace Biden is the reason he won’t be replaced.