President Biden has reportedly told a key ally he is considering leaving the race for President if he cannot salvage the public’s perception of his cognitive ability, the New York Times reports. After his debate performance on June 27, where he was perceived even by his own party as stilted and meandering, there have been private hand-wringing from the donor class, congressional Democrats, and former Obama officials, who all believe that the public’s negative view of his age could push them to vote for his rival, former President Donald Trump. Representative Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) has been the first in-office congressional Democrat to state that Biden should step aside. While others have said that Biden may step aside, Doggett was the first to make a statement publicly.
President Biden is also undergoing a polling decline, according to leaked polling data from Puck News. The polling data, conducted online in the 72 hours after the debate, found that 40 percent of voters who voted for Biden in 2020 said he should end his campaign. For swing voters, approximately two-thirds believed he should end his campaign. Among swing states, Pennsylvania has Biden down by 7 points; in Michigan, he is down by 7 points; in Nevada, he is down by 9 points; and down 10 points in both George and Arizona. Among other states that were not thought to be battlegrounds, such as Minnesota, Virginia, Maine, New Mexico, and Colorado, Biden has moved from clearly winning into battleground status.
Donors are now reportedly debating shifting their money away from the Biden campaign to Congressional races, believing that the infusions will lead to better outcomes. This is another problem for Biden, as Trump’s campaign has been quickly closing the funding gap with Biden’s campaign.