After a devastating debate performance, Biden aides try to reassure panicky Democrats
The debate was always going to be a gamble for Joe Biden — but the bet may prove more costly than he imagined after he gave what was roundly panned as a bumbling and incoherent performance.
WASHINGTON — The debate was always going to be a gamble for Joe Biden — but the bet may prove more costly than he imagined after he gave what was roundly panned as a bumbling and incoherent performance.
Alarmed by the spectacle, some Democrats fretted that they might need to dump Biden from the ticket, even as his campaign aides insisted that nothing about the evening should disqualify him as a candidate.
Heading into the debate, Biden’s advisers believed that once voters got a close look at the unfiltered Donald Trump — once they heard his outbursts and taunts — they’d appreciate Biden’s steadiness and realize they had no choice but to give him another term.
So they pitched a debate months earlier than usual, and Trump accepted.
Minutes in, the plan seemed to have backfired.
Rating: 5