The president’s performance was a bomb for the Democrats, who some already doubt whether he can be a candidate

President Joe Biden’s main mission during Thursday night’s debate against Donald Trump was defend their managementbut above all to clear up doubts about his age and mental acuity to be four more years at the head of the leading world power, a concern of a good part of the Americans. It clearly failed.

The White House chief, who would be 82 when he takes up a potential second term, was not only outmatched by his rival in the first face-to-face of the presidential race, but further deepened the concern for his lucidityto the point that many of his supporters They already doubt whether he can effectively be the Democratic candidate for the November 5 elections.

Biden lost his first duelA CNN snap poll found that 67% of voters believed Trump had won the debate, while only 33% favored the president. The Democrat’s performance It was much worse than people expected. of him. Before the debate, 45% said Biden would win, while 55% were in favor of Trump.

The headlines of the main newspapers on Friday morning they were lapidaries. The New York Times woke up with these:

• “Joe Biden is a good man and a good president. He should leave the race”
• “Biden can’t continue like this”
• “I hear a lot of anxiety among Democrats about Biden’s performance in the debate”
• “Is Biden too old? America got its answer”

It is known that in debates the image almost always matters more than the content. And from minute zero, Biden introduced himself with a hoarse voice, with a low and weak tone, with a clearing of the throat that seemed uncontrollable. But what hurt him even more was the incoherence in some of your answerswhich were not understood and went beyond the well-known stutter that he has had since childhood. The president was far removed, for example, from the energetic speech he gave before Congress in his State of the Union address in March. Without a teleprompter, all ghosts are unleashed.

Trump used his reflexes when his opponent stumbled and struggled to get his words out. “I really don’t know what he said at the end of that sentence,” the former president said after Biden rambled on to a question about border security less than 10 minutes into their debate. “I don’t think he knew either,” he said scathingly.

The most worrying thing is that Biden was in theory very prepared for the appointment in Atlanta. He spent almost a week at Camp David training with a team and with his personal lawyer who played Trump. After the debate, some of his supporters said that the president had a flu that affected his performance. However, others were less contemplative. “It was not a good debate for Biden,” admitted Kate Bedingfield, a former Democratic communications adviser.

The president’s performance It fell like a bomb among the Democrats And some lawmakers and government advisers were quietly wondering whether Biden should be replaced by another candidate. “Biden is about to face growing calls to step aside,” said one veteran Democratic strategist who had publicly endorsed Biden. “Joe had a deep well of affection among Democrats. It has dried up,” he said. “Parties exist to win,” the strategist continued.

The fear spread to donors. Mark Buell, a prominent Biden and Democratic Party contributor, said the president I had to seriously consider if he is the best person to be the nominee. “Do we have time to put someone else in there?”Buell asked.

Vice President Kamala Harris was one of the few who came out to put her face and support Biden. She acknowledged that “there was a slow start,” but added that “the end was solid” and that what mattered were the three and a half years of management and the proposals that were superior to Trump’s. It is true that the president improved as the minutes passed, but it was not enough to dispel concerns.

The former president had the mission of attacking Biden’s administration, but at the same time Don’t sound too aggressive or lose control, because part of the electorate, especially the moderate one, also doubts the tycoon’s provocative and untimely temperament to run the White House. In that sense he approved the challenge.

Trump’s message, as is often the case, was several times incorrect or exaggerated as to the facts, but communicated clearly and was emphatic on issues that concern Americans, such as the economy and immigration. His performance She was disciplined, agile and looked contained.. She avoided the kind of interruptions and belligerence that undermined their first debate in 2020 and refocused the discussion on attacks on Biden’s record whenever possible.

Biden does not was able to corner him in the face of his lies. When the topic turned to abortion, for example, the former president repeatedly deflected attention to what he said was Democratic extremism. He claimed, incorrectly, that Democrats support abortions after babies are born. Biden did not react to an issue that is a hobbyhorse of his campaign and a weakness of Trump.

In one of the spiciest crossings of the night, Biden said Trump was a convicted felon for a romantic relationship with adult film star Stormy Daniels and said the former president had “the morals of a stray cat”“I did not have sex with a porn star,” Trump responded.

Trump appeared to be on the defensive when discussing his response to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. He initially tried to turn a question about his responsibility for the Capitol riot into a condemnation of Biden’s record, but this time the president crossed him. “He encouraged those people to go up to the Capitol. He sat there for three hours while his aides begged him to do something,” Biden said. “He didn’t do anything.”

The former president also repeatedly dodged the answer when asked if he would accept the result of the 2024 elections. In the end he said that I would do it if they were “legal and fair.”

The one on Thursday was the earliest debate in the history of campaigns, almost four months before the elections, because the Democrats also wanted it, perhaps to point their guns at Trump beforehand and present him as a danger to democracy. But today Nobody talks about it. Now Biden must not only fight against the Republican’s weaknesses but also to raise his own image, which was already damaged with low popularity for a president at this point in his term.

It must also be recognized that the fact that Biden’s misstep It being early gives him more time to recoverThe Democrats have their party convention in August, in Chicago, where the president will be able to have a more predictable and energetic performance, sticking to a strict campaign script. And there will be another debate in September, closer to the elections on November 5.

It is possible, but It would take an open revolt for Democrats to abandon Biden, who handily won enough delegates in the primary to secure the party’s nomination. At least so far, no prominent Democratic officials have publicly broken ranks, even as some have raised alarm bells in anonymous conversations with reporters. Biden, on the other hand, could resign if the pressure increases.. But he doesn’t seem like a man who’ll throw in the towel quickly.

“President Biden is going to be the Democratic nominee and President Biden is going to win this election,” said Quentin Fulks, deputy chairman of the Democratic campaign.

In politics everything is possibleBiden is a candidate with enormous experience and there is still a long way to go until November. But the outlook appears clearly more complicated after the debate. Biden and Trump are tied in the polls and are fighting vote by vote in the key states, where the undecided decide the election. Many are frustrated at having to choose today between the same candidates again.

In this scenario, a beneficiary may turn out to be Robert Kennedy Jr, the independent who today has 7% in the polls. Many voters who despise Trump and have doubts about Biden may lean toward a protest vote for someone outside a traditional party, even if he is the nephew of the assassinated former president.