Democrats are on damage control after a widely panned performance by President Joe Biden in the first debate of the 2024 presidential election cycle.
"It was a horrendous start. It was a bad middle and it was a slow finish," said KCBS Political Analyst Marc Sandalow. "I mean, after a week of practicing at Camp David, the fact that he could barely get out his closing statement was a real problem for the president."
While Biden and former President Donald Trump exchanged views on policies and veered into personal attacks, the president frequently lost his train of thought, stumbled over words and gave incoherent answers to questions.
"The first 15, 20 minutes would be considered probably the worst performance of a candidate, certainly an incumbent, candidate ever," University of Michigan Presidential Debate Expert Aaron Kall told the Associated Press.
Given Biden's shaky performance, some are wondering whether the 81-year-old incumbent should be replaced on the ballot before November. According to CNN, the Democratic Party is "in crisis with serious conversations taking place behind the scenes among senior figures over whether his candidacy is now sustainable, two months before the Democratic National Convention."
That may sound like a simple solution, but delegates are already bound to Biden since every state has already held its primary. As reported by The Associated Press, "Democratic rules mandate that the delegates Biden won remain bound to support him at the party's upcoming national convention unless he tells them he’s leaving the race."
"Joe Biden is the Democratic nominee unless he decides that he's not. I mean, there's no longer any backroom smoke filled rooms where, you know, the party elders get together and decide who the nominee is," said Sandalow. "It's a primary and caucus process. And he has twice the number of committed delegates. They're going to nominate him in Chicago in August."
The only thing that could change is if Biden decides to drop out and release those delegates.
"He'd have to say, 'You know what, I've decided that I'm not the best candidate.' And while there are a lot of Democrats who are openly saying he ought to do that now, you think about the troubles that causes," said Sandalow. "This just would tear apart, in many ways, the party."
While Biden has given no inclination that he would end his campaign, several people are being considered as possible replacements, according to a report by Forbes.
On top of the list of candidates is Vice President Kamala Harris, the "most obvious" choice, per the report.
Several Democratic governors who have "elevated their national profiles" could also be considered as alternatives, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.
At this point, any talk of replacing Biden on the ticket is strictly just conjecture.
"The Biden circle around him, the inner circle, is very, very tight. So there aren't many very senior officials speaking about their candid thoughts," said Margaret Brennan, CBS News Foreign Affairs correspondent and moderator of Face the Nation. "There have long been a next generation of Democrats buzzed about as an alternative, but none elevated by the party establishment to do that."
"Vice President Kamala Harris was out on cable networks last night defending him. Gavin Newsom, the Democratic governor of California, out there saying he stands by Joe Biden," Brennan added. "So there aren't outwards cracks in the Democratic establishment, at least at this point."