The Democratic Party is experiencing a significant panic due to President Biden's dismal debate performance. Members of the Democratic National Committee criticized the campaign for misleading them about Biden's health, while the campaign team accused anxious Democrats of "bedwetting" in response to the disastrous debate. A prominent newspaper called on Biden to withdraw from consideration for reelection.
Allies of the 81-year-old president hurried over the weekend to allay worries about his flagging campaign by demonstrating unflinching public support, despite complaints from many that the campaign was not taking the impact from his dismal debate performance seriously enough.
A CBS News/YouGov survey revealed that 72% of respondents, including 41% of Democrats, believe Biden has the mental and cognitive capacity to be president. This is an increase over the same survey two weeks earlier, when 29% of Democrats and 65% of registered voters expressed doubts about the president's mental capacity. To convince some of the party's most powerful members that Biden was here to stay and capable of competing for a second term, Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez and Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison convened a call on Saturday afternoon. Some callers felt like they were being "gaslit" because the duo refused to answer questions and gave an optimistic evaluation of Biden's prospects of defeating former President Donald Trump in November.
The Biden campaign retreated on Sunday, accusing some party members of "bedwetting" in a fundraising email. Rob Flaherty, the deputy campaign manager for the Democrats, reaffirmed that Joe Biden would be their choice and pleaded with the group to back him. He highlighted a post-debate survey that showed Vice President Kamala Harris and Joe Biden continuing to poll higher than Democratic options in fictitious matches against Trump.
Election statistician Nate Silver quickly refuted Flaherty's email, pointing out that a narrow advantage over less well-known individuals is indeed concerning. Despite being much less well-known than Biden, "literally all of the Democrats in this poll are actually doing [as well as] Biden, which generally tends to depress your polling," Silver wrote.
Campaign managers claimed in an email to donors on Sunday that since the debate, Mr. Biden had collected over $33 million, with $26 million coming from small-time supporters. In an attempt to comfort fans and funders, campaign staffers said that Mr. Biden "just had a bad night" and that his performance in office should be evaluated rather than the 90-minute debate.
During the Democratic presidential debate, President Biden maintained that his ratings improved, despite a decline in support among voters. Despite acknowledging his poor performance, Biden did not back down and addressed the assembly, saying he would fight harder. However, more people are calling on him to resign. Democratic backer and former Iowa senator Tom Harkin described the debate as a disaster from which Biden cannot recover. Harkin urged all current Democratic senators to write to Biden requesting that he surrender his delegates and stand down so the party may choose a new nominee.
A second major newspaper called on Biden to withdraw from the campaign on Sunday so that a younger, more competitive contender might enter. The editorial board of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution referred to Biden's debate performance as "excruciating" and declared that retirement was now required. The left-leaning editorial board also said that Biden was unable to provide specific successes from his almost four years in government and was unable to articulate any vision for a second term.
The New York Times was the first to call on Biden to resign as candidate on Friday. NBC News reported that the Bidens were in Camp David to evaluate the direction of their campaign, but a White House representative refuted the claim, stating that the trip was prearranged to take family portraits for the Democratic National Convention in August.
Allies of the 81-year-old president hurried over the weekend to allay worries about his flagging campaign by demonstrating unflinching public support, despite complaints from many that the campaign was not taking the impact from his dismal debate performance seriously enough.
A CBS News/YouGov survey revealed that 72% of respondents, including 41% of Democrats, believe Biden has the mental and cognitive capacity to be president. This is an increase over the same survey two weeks earlier, when 29% of Democrats and 65% of registered voters expressed doubts about the president's mental capacity. To convince some of the party's most powerful members that Biden was here to stay and capable of competing for a second term, Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez and Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison convened a call on Saturday afternoon. Some callers felt like they were being "gaslit" because the duo refused to answer questions and gave an optimistic evaluation of Biden's prospects of defeating former President Donald Trump in November.
The Biden campaign retreated on Sunday, accusing some party members of "bedwetting" in a fundraising email. Rob Flaherty, the deputy campaign manager for the Democrats, reaffirmed that Joe Biden would be their choice and pleaded with the group to back him. He highlighted a post-debate survey that showed Vice President Kamala Harris and Joe Biden continuing to poll higher than Democratic options in fictitious matches against Trump.
Election statistician Nate Silver quickly refuted Flaherty's email, pointing out that a narrow advantage over less well-known individuals is indeed concerning. Despite being much less well-known than Biden, "literally all of the Democrats in this poll are actually doing [as well as] Biden, which generally tends to depress your polling," Silver wrote.
Campaign managers claimed in an email to donors on Sunday that since the debate, Mr. Biden had collected over $33 million, with $26 million coming from small-time supporters. In an attempt to comfort fans and funders, campaign staffers said that Mr. Biden "just had a bad night" and that his performance in office should be evaluated rather than the 90-minute debate.
During the Democratic presidential debate, President Biden maintained that his ratings improved, despite a decline in support among voters. Despite acknowledging his poor performance, Biden did not back down and addressed the assembly, saying he would fight harder. However, more people are calling on him to resign. Democratic backer and former Iowa senator Tom Harkin described the debate as a disaster from which Biden cannot recover. Harkin urged all current Democratic senators to write to Biden requesting that he surrender his delegates and stand down so the party may choose a new nominee.
A second major newspaper called on Biden to withdraw from the campaign on Sunday so that a younger, more competitive contender might enter. The editorial board of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution referred to Biden's debate performance as "excruciating" and declared that retirement was now required. The left-leaning editorial board also said that Biden was unable to provide specific successes from his almost four years in government and was unable to articulate any vision for a second term.
The New York Times was the first to call on Biden to resign as candidate on Friday. NBC News reported that the Bidens were in Camp David to evaluate the direction of their campaign, but a White House representative refuted the claim, stating that the trip was prearranged to take family portraits for the Democratic National Convention in August.
