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How Dems Move Past the Bad Debate

A race that has been incredibly steady just entered a very fluid, confusing new phase.

Dan Pfeiffer

Jun 29

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Even after the debate, I believe Joe Biden can win this race. He was behind nationally and in the key battleground states headed into the debate. His performance did not improve his chances.

This was always going to be a hard race. The President’s approval ratings have oscillated between the low 40s and high 30s for nearly three years. While inflation has come down, prices remain high. Three-quarters of Americans believe the economy stinks and think the country is headed in the wrong direction. Biden is the incumbent running while anti-incumbent sentiment spans the globe. This race is only close because Donald Trump is a massively flawed, convicted criminal with an unpopular policy agenda who tried violently to overturn an election. There’s a reason why Nikki Haley was leading Biden by double digits in hypothetical polls taken earlier this year.

Voters have been screaming for years about Biden’s age. In the most recent New York Times/Siena poll, 68% of likely voters believe Biden is too old to be an effective President. This number includes a majority of his voters, 74% of Independents, and 87% of voters under 30. It’s impossible to dismiss these concerns or not believe that they are weighing Biden down in a winnable race.

The debate was the biggest moment in the campaign to date. It didn’t go well. So, what comes next?

1. The Big Question

Before the debate was 15-minutes-old, my phone began blowing up with Democratic operatives, donors, and non-political friends and family wondering if Biden needed to step aside for a younger Democrat. While I am not aware of a single serious conversation on the topic among the most senior Democrats, the talk is dominating the media and the private conversations of everyone in the party.

Biden can be better than he was on Thursday night. I’ve seen him do it. He was better at yesterday’s rally in North Carolina.

Every candidate has bad days, but the bad days are more frequent when you are 81. To win, especially if there is no other debate, Biden must shake up the race; and after that debate, it’s fair to ask if he is the messenger to pull the rabbit out of the hat...