As G.O.P. Convention Begins, ‘the Vibe Is Grim’ for Democrats

As the Republican convention opens on Monday, Democrats find themselves in a state of suspended animation and dread that the election could be tilting further away from President Biden.

While there have been no new public calls from congressional Democrats for Mr. Biden to drop out since the assassination attempt on former President Donald J. Trump on Saturday, many in the party maintain grave concerns about the president’s ability to win. They are now divided over how to proceed with a weakened leader in a scrambled political environment, according to interviews on Sunday and Monday with 15 Democratic lawmakers, strategists and activists.

The last three weeks have been a cascade of fast-moving and damaging events for Mr. Biden.

His awful debate performance set off rounds of Democratic second-guessing about whether he was their best hope to avert a second Trump administration, with some worrying that he might not only lose, but also take many congressional Democrats down with him.

The shooting on Saturday complicated what Mr. Biden’s campaign believes is one of its most potent campaign messages: that Mr. Trump poses an immediate and active threat to American democracy. Mr. Trump’s in-the-moment response — the raised fist and bloodied face that instantly became a defining image — sent Democrats into yet another tailspin.

And then, as if the Democratic mood were not sour enough, on Monday morning Judge Aileen M. Cannon dismissed the documents case against Mr. Trump in Florida, removing a major legal threat.

“The vibe is grim,” said Matt Bennett, the co-founder of Third Way, a Democratic think tank that has backed Mr. Biden for years. “I haven’t talked to a single Democrat who is like, ‘Things are fine.’ It’s universal.”