If Not President Biden, Then Who?

Cracks are beginning to appear in the Democratic Party’s support of President Biden after last week’s debate debacle.Credit…Yuri Gripas for The New York Times

Plan B talks get louder

The Biden campaign’s attempts to soothe panicked Democrats and donors after the president’s calamitous debate appear to have cratered.

One Democratic lawmaker has openly called on President Biden to withdraw from the race, while others are sharply criticizing his campaign’s response. Polls show his approval ratings are falling. And many party backers remain as nervous about sticking with him as they were last week — but also worry about the alternatives.

The latest: Representative Lloyd Doggett of Texas became the first sitting Democrat to demand that Biden step aside. And some Biden allies qualified their post-debate defenses: Representative Jim Clyburn of South Carolina told The Hill on NewsNation, “I think that the American people want an explanation.”

Barack Obama has said privately that Biden’s already tough fight has gotten harder, according to The Washington Post. Democrats and foreign allies worry that Biden has increasingly seemed confused or listless, The Times reports.

And 75 percent of respondents in a new CNN poll said they would prefer someone else atop the Democratic ticket.

Team Biden was continuing to try to tamp down concerns, with the president scheduled for an interview with ABC News’s George Stephanopoulos. The White House was also weighing Biden visiting Wisconsin and Pennsylvania in the coming days. More crucially, it was also planning a meeting on Wednesday with Democratic governors, after they expressed frustration about the Biden camp’s debate response.