In the state where Biden suffered a fiasco in debate, Biden and his team began to salvage their campaign prospects in a hurry.
Within 24 and 48 hours of the debate, the Biden team launched a whirlwind of events and received a significant amount of campaign donations.
This kicked off a multi-day "damage control" campaign aimed at reassuring Democratic lawmakers, supporters, and political donors who were very anxious about Biden's election prospects and pleading with them to continue to support President Biden.
In the first 24 hours, before Biden's debate on Thursday night was over, his team began lobbying Democrats not to give up their support for Biden. Biden's campaign war rooms in Wilmington and Atlanta began pushing out messages to journalists and agents, including news that Biden has no intention of withdrawing from the race. The next morning, accompanied by Fulks and campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez, campaign chair O'Malley Dillon walked through the lobby of the Ritz-Carlton, Atlanta, to report back to some of the most loyal donors.
Then in North Carolina, at the end of a rally, Biden admitted that he was old and had various shortcomings: "I don't walk as easily as I used to, and I don't speak as smoothly as I used to." But he added, "If I didn't really believe I could do the job, I wouldn't be running again." ”
At 2:36 p.m. on Friday, the Biden team received one of the most important supports: a message of support from Obama. Obama wrote on social media: "Bad debate nights happen all the time. Trust me, I know. Rep. Ro Connor of California, a member of Biden's National Advisory Council, said: "[Obama's] words are significant. ”
At an all-hands meeting on Friday afternoon, senior officials of the campaign — O'Malley Dillon, Chavez Rodriguez, Fulkes and Rob Flefherty, the campaign's other deputy manager, reassured their team staff, saying they understood the intense pressure they were facing from friends, family and supporters. They admit that many on their team are also feeling very discouraged.
Kelly Robinson, the leader of a political activist group, said Biden's aides called after the debate to highlight the stakes in the election. On Friday night, Kelly joined the president at the annual dinner on "politically correct" topics in New York. "People started to get a little agitated, but in the end we were going to have two choices," she said. "It's either Biden or Trump, who is worse for the Democrats.
The next afternoon, in an online discussion organized to appease members of the Democratic National Committee, Jaime Harrison, chairman of the party's National Committee, spoke about the party's operations on the ground and the $27 million (about 200 million yuan) that the Biden campaign has raised since the debate. According to multiple attendees, Harrison did not take questions, and opinions within the committee on Biden's future prospects remain divided.
Throughout the weekend, Biden's campaign team was eager to create an image of party unity in support of Biden — perhaps they were too eager. On Saturday afternoon, the Biden team sent a fundraising invitation to Democratic strategist James Cavill, who has repeatedly suggested that Biden should not be the party's nominee. "What really amused me was that the next day he excused himself for his poor performance because he was old, well, that's not the point," Cavill said in an interview. "Now that there is an opposition to Biden, let's wait and see."
After the debate, Biden also spent time wandering the wealthy Hamptons neighborhood, where he received large donations at the home of billionaire hedge fund manager Barry Rosenstein. But on the way to the home, Biden's motorcade passed a crowd of people holding placards that read: "Please quit for America" and "We love you, but now is the time."
By Saturday night, O'Malley Dillon had written a memo accusing "Washington political circles" of prematurely abandoning Biden. "If we see a change in the polls in the coming weeks, it means that this is not the first time that media overplay has caused a temporary dip in the polls," she wrote. She didn't say a word about the fact that more than 50 million Americans watched Biden's stumbling debate performance in real time.
In the early hours of Friday morning, shortly after the debate, President Biden's campaign chair, Jen O'Malley Dillon, spoke privately on the phone with a range of key supporters. She acknowledged that the night's debate was poor, but urged them not to overreact. Senior White House aides then began to pick up the phone as well, with White House Chief of Staff Jeffrey Zintz reporting to Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, according to a person familiar with the matter.
According to a recording of the all-hands meeting, Quentin Fulks, Biden's deputy campaign manager, said, "Last night, there was no fundamental change about this election: "We were beaten. We will fight back. We will stand up when we are beaten. ”
Since the debate, Biden has participated in as many as seven election campaigns in four states at a frantic pace. Now he took a break from his activities and headed to Camp David for a pre-planned family gathering. He arrived late Saturday for a party with his wife, first lady Jill Biden and Biden's children and grandchildren, according to two people familiar with the schedule. The party was for a family photo shoot, and the itinerary was scheduled in the spring. But the timing of the gathering, combined with the fact that Biden is surrounded by family members who have played a crucial role in his past decisions about whether or not to run, make the Camp David vacation even more at stake.
There are some signs that Biden has done serious damage to his re-election bid in just 90 minutes. His campaign has been criticized for its self-talking, and the poor debate has turned into a real crisis that has put his campaign in a frantic fight for survival.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, who hosted a private fundraising dinner for the president at his home Saturday night, was among those who received a call from a senior White House official. "That phone call, acknowledging that they had a tough night, also means we have to remember that the last four years have been very difficult and we have to keep going." He added, "[The campaign] has to hit the gas pedal hard." At the dinner, Murphy raised $3.7 million for the campaign, and he introduced President Biden as "America's comeback."
Among those who raised the idea of replacing the candidate were Biden's senior White House advisers — Zintz, Bruce Reed, Anita Dern and Steve Richetti — who called parliamentary leaders, top donors and others, according to multiple people familiar with the matter. Mr. Biden needs to prove that he has the energy to face the rigors of the campaign, the top campaign aides said. But they assured allies that they believed Biden would pass the test.
On Friday night in New York, at a fundraiser for Democrats in the House of Representatives with Omabah, discussions focused on Biden's failure on the debate stage and how the party should respond. Obama and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told donors that debate night was indeed tough, two panelists said, and then they both stressed that the immediate priority was to defeat Trump, not to replace him.
Some attendees blamed Biden's aides for the failure, arguing that they should not agree to the format of the debate. New York State Rep. Gregory Meeks said many donors urged officials present at the event to pressure Biden to end his re-election campaign. Meeks said he advised donors to calm down. "I agree it was a very bad night," he suggested, in part because Biden was trying to cram too much information into his answers. "Donors are very worried," Meeks said. "Some of them came to me and said they were panicking, and honestly, we have to do something, we have to do something now. There are also some people who have told me that if I make a substitution now, the situation will be a mess. ”
At a time when Mr. Obama was trying to appease donors, there was a heated discussion among donors about an editorial published online by The New York Times editorial board before and after the debate calling on Mr. Biden to step aside, according to two participants. This comes after similar calls were made by other media personalities Biden followed, including MSNBC's Joe Scarborough and New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman.
For months, Democrats have been — mostly quietly — worried about whether Biden will be able to run at his current age and, if he wins re-election, will be able to govern until 86. According to the latest polls by The Times and Siena College, a full 45 percent of Democrats did not want him to be a candidate just days before the debate, and his performance is likely to only deepen that concern. But a bigger question is yet to come: if Biden agrees to drop out of the race, who will replace him and get a better outcome? No Democrat who hopes to run in 2028 will be willing to rush into this year's campaign with only a few months left.