For Democrats, the Big Question: Now What?

President Biden sought to ease concerns about his universally panned debate performance in remarks to supporters at a North Carolina rally on Friday. "I know I'm not a young man, to state the obvious," he said, per Axios. "I don't walk as easy as I used to. I don't speak as smoothly as I used to. I don't debate as well as I used to. But I know what I do know: I know how to tell the truth. I know right from wrong. And I know how to do this job." Whether that will be enough to assuage worried Democrats is another story. CNN has a clip of what it calls a "fiery speech."

• A supporter's plea: Add the name of New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman to the list of those expressing a common sentiment on Friday: "Joe Biden, a good man and a good president, has no business running for re-election," he writes in an op-ed. Friedman implores Biden's advisers and family members to have that tough conversation with him.
• Still committed: The Wall Street Journal reports that "several lawmakers" were discussing what might happen next, even if the president was not. A senior presidential adviser (speaking before the president confirmed as much at the Friday rally) tells the newspaper that the president had no plans to drop out and is committed to the second debate in September. Said Biden himself: "I would not be running again if I did not believe with all my heart and soul that I can do this job."

• Effort is 'real:' Politico also reports that Biden is showing no signs he would consider dropping, and the outlet notes that it would be difficult to find an elected Democrat willing to go on record calling for his withdrawal. Off the record is a different story. "The movement to convince Biden to not run is real," says one anonymous House Democrat. He adds that it would likely take a team effort from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to convince Biden. Democrats also say that Jill Biden would have to be on board.
• Logistics: The Washington Post plays out what-if scenarios. Biden has nearly all of the approximately 4,000 committed delegates so far, meaning the party probably can't replace him as the nominee unless he decides to bow out. Should he do so, however, "it's actually quite easy" for a replacement to be picked at the August convention. It would become an "open convention" in which the nominee gets picked in the moment.
• The names: Potential replacements getting tossed around include VP Kamala Harris, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and Georgia Sen. Raphael G. Warnock. Nobody, though, is even hinting at that publicly. "Our nominee is Joe Biden—I'm looking forward to voting for him in November," said Newsom after the debate.
• Patience? Included in the coverage of all this is the sentiment that Biden will take a hit in the polls, then rebound in time for the election. "We think there's going to be a lot of twists and turns here," the Biden adviser tells the Journal. The Politico analysis, however, predicts a tough summer for the president and his party. "Democrats have nobody to blame but themselves," writes Jonathan Martin. "They stayed mum for three and half years and now they're reaping the whirlwind."

(More President Biden 2024 stories.)