The first 2024 presidential debate was held last Thursday. President Biden did not do well. People were freaking out about Biden’s performance for almost a full 24 hours. The NY Times claimed that high-ranking Democrats were meeting about possibly removing the sitting president from the ballot. That’s not how any of this works. The NYT also ran a staff editorial calling for President Biden to step down from the election. That’s also not how any of this works, and the NYT never ran a similar editorial when Donald Trump was convicted of 34 felonies, nor when E. Jean Carroll won her civil case and Trump became an adjudicated rapist.
I’ve seen a lot of old-school Democratic operatives refer to that 24-hour period as “bed-wetting,” which I find accurate. But something really interesting happened too: suddenly, the real grown-ups began talking. Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Jim Clyburn both came out with full-throated support for President Biden and Vice President Harris. Democrats around the country understood that this was the moment to coalesce around Biden, and post-debate, the Biden campaign raised over $27 million. Then Barack Obama came out to settle Dem nerves:
“Bad debate nights happen. Trust me, I know,” Obama said in a post on X, a reference to his own first debate with 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney, which was widely viewed as a victory for the Republican.
“But this election is still a choice between someone who has fought for ordinary folks his entire life and someone who only cares about himself. Between someone who tells the truth; who knows right from wrong and will give it to the American people straight — and someone who lies through his teeth for his own benefit,” Obama said. “Last night didn’t change that, and it’s why so much is at stake in November.”
What’s also interesting is that the actual focus groups and man-on-the-street debate reactions are showing that voters actually are paying attention, not just to Biden’s poor debate performance, but the absolute insanity of Donald Trump. Regular people who watched the debate thought Trump came across poorly too, and that Trump was lying from start to finish. The stakes are obvious even to so-called “low-information voters” in June. More than anything, it feels like the overwhelming majority of Americans have already decided how they’ll vote. Which means it’s going to be about the ground game and who has the better GOTV operations.
Bill and Hillary Clinton also chimed in:
I’ll leave the debate rating to the pundits, but here’s what I know: facts and history matter. Joe Biden has given us 3 years of solid leadership, steadying us after the pandemic, creating a record number of new jobs, making real progress solving the climate crisis, and launching…
— Bill Clinton (@BillClinton) June 28, 2024
The choice in this election remains very simple.
It’s a choice between someone who cares about you—your rights, your prospects, your future—versus someone who’s only in it for himself.
I’ll be voting Biden. https://t.co/mxkpLIOEux
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) June 28, 2024
Jack Schlossberg weighs in. pic.twitter.com/3sj5Q2usud
— Kim Wexler’s Ponytail (@MadisonKittay) June 29, 2024
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Avalon Red, Cover Images.