Jeanne Winograd, a 72-year-old Democrat from Phoenix, is such a huge Biden fan that she sent him a Valentine's Day card saying the election depended on Biden's energy, not his age. But after suffering panic attacks for a week following Biden's dismal debate performance, she felt compelled to send another card.
This person said, “Thank you for everything, but it's time to go home now.”
“I love Biden, but he's weak,” Winograd said. “Pass the baton.”
While Mr. Biden and his allies are scrambling to repair the damage done by last week's debate and emphasize that he is not withdrawing from the race, dozens of Democrats say they no longer believe Mr. Biden can accomplish the one thing they desperately want: defeating former President Donald J. Trump. They are desperate for the party to find a Plan B.
In 80 interviews conducted this holiday at Fourth of July parades, pie-eating contests and political events in battleground states of Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin and North Carolina, more than half of voters who supported Biden in 2020 said he should now drop out of the race. About a quarter said he should remain in the race. The rest were unsure.
The turmoil engulfing the Democratic Party has members losing sleep and divided over the way forward, with some saying the November election is realistic for Biden to be removed from office, while others argue he is the best (or only?) option for the party.
Some voters said Vice President Kamala Harris would be Biden's smartest successor. Worried that he wouldn't be a match for Trump, he said a Democratic governor in Michigan or Pennsylvania might be a better choice. One voter suggested one of the Castro brothers in Texas. Another asked about Michelle Obama.
All but one voter said they would still vote for Biden if he continued in the race. They said they see Trump as a greater threat to democracy, women's rights and the future of the world than Biden, who will be 86 at the end of his second term. They also said they don't think Trump, 78, is mentally ready to serve another four years.
Others worried about the risks of suddenly switching presidential candidates four months before the election and a growing perception that the party doesn't know what to do.
“We can't agree on how to move forward, we can't agree on what to do about the status quo,” said Raja Seshadri, 46, who works at the National Institutes of Health in Raleigh, N.C. “We're going to lose.”
Democrats' willingness to openly consider negotiations with Biden stands in stark contrast to what they're hearing from their own leaders.
While two sitting Democratic senators have called for Biden to step down, a majority of Democratic elected officials rallied behind him this week, and a new New York Times/Siena College poll found Trump leading Biden by 6 points among likely voters.
Some voters said they felt frustrated and betrayed by the party's efforts to quickly avoid any discussion of whether Biden should step down, that his incoherent responses during the debate could not be explained away as a bad night, jet lag or a cold, and that they were not comforted by his appearances at post-debate events.
“It's shameful that Biden allowed this to happen and that we all allowed this to happen,” said Elaine Becherer, 48, who works in college planning in Phoenix, Arizona, and has spoken with other Biden supporters in Arizona on a video call this week about Biden's candidacy.
“Our Dear Leader,” Christina Ospina, 56, a Phoenix-based neurologist who studies movement disorders, said sarcastically, referring to the complimentary term for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Some frustrated Democrats have begun to publicly voice their concerns.
Others said they wrote letters to the White House or lobbied local officials. In Traverse City, Michigan, Greg Holmes, 71, a retired psychologist and staunch Democratic supporter, showed up to a campaign event for first lady Jill Biden, holding a sign that read, “Stand back, Joe!”
“If Biden says and does what I would call the right or the brave thing and passes the baton, I'll be elated and I'll be enthusiastic about the next person,” Holmes said, “because I really think Trump is a terrible threat to our democracy.”
Holmes said she doesn't believe Biden is fit to be president and that she doesn't think the Democratic Party and Biden campaign have been honest with the voters. She said the best thing to do at this point is for Biden to send delegates to the Democratic National Convention to decide on a new nominee.
In the heavily Democratic Milwaukee suburb of Wauwatosa, Biden's troubles were the last thing on many voters' minds as they watched bagpipers and a high school dance team march in the city's annual Fourth of July parade.
“He should withdraw from the race,” said Jerry Ford, a 72-year-old engineer who was not the 38th president of the United States. “The sooner the better. He doesn't meet the criteria for the most important job in the world.”
Ford also said there had been a lack of transparency from the White House and Biden's campaign after the debate.
“All our suspicions about politicians not being honest with their constituents have been realized,” he said. “It's a disgrace to the country.”
Sophia Altas and Emma Dew, both 18, who live across the street, said they were voting in their first presidential election and felt no enthusiasm for either candidate. They were so disheartened by the debate that they stopped watching. They said they're likely to vote for Biden because he's not Trump.
“Kamala Harris will be his successor and she's better than Trump,” Dew said. “There are a lot of new ideas that the younger generation is expressing, but we're not seeing that reflected in our candidates.”
Other Democrats swallowed their concerns and decided to back Biden.
Melissa Wicksell, 21, of Raleigh, North Carolina, said defeating Trump is so important that Democrats need to rally around Biden and highlight his policy accomplishments, and that some of her Democratic friends have also voiced their support for Biden.
“Obviously he stutters and he's older, but generally, when you listen to him, you understand what he's saying,” Wicksell said. “Meanwhile, Trump lies all the time.”
Liz Purvis, Democratic Chairwoman of Granville County, North Carolina, a purple county won by Trump in 2020, said her current thinking on the intraparty dispute is simple: “Quite frankly, I think supporting Biden is the right decision.”
“Given the amount of money they've raised and the organizational strength that their campaigns are exerting, it seems like the smoothest path to victory for the Democrats is through the Biden campaign,” Purvis said.
She added, “Internship doesn't seem like forward momentum, but forward momentum is what we need.”
Michael John, 35, of Tempe, Arizona, said he decided to vote for the first time in November after starting Navajo Mike's, a small business that makes skillet bread mixes and barbecue sauces. He realized how deeply intertwined politics is with his life, family and success. John, a Navajo citizen, said Biden has supported Native American-run businesses like his with loan guarantees and marketing and business development assistance. But he also said Biden should drop out of the race to avoid losing to Trump.
“Ideally, we'd have someone who is more consistent and engaged,” he said, adding that President Biden should be “doing something cool and fun. He doesn't have to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders.”