After a full week of isolated “preparation,” President Joe Biden committed political suicide Thursday night in the first presidential debate. He struggled to put together a coherent sentence, with former President Donald Trump at one point telling moderators he was unsure what Biden was trying to say. And while Trump delivered a tempered and strong performance, Republicans cannot assume their polling and debate performances will be enough to win this November. The party must keep its foot on the pedal of ballot operations.
Biden’s performance rocked the left-wing apparatus, with the left fretting that he should not and cannot be the Democratic nominee. Biden spent the night incoherently rambling, muddling words, lying at least 20 times, and, when not speaking, standing with his mouth agape.
“Dems freak out over Biden’s debate performance: ‘Biden is toast,’” Politico headlined a piece.
CNN’s John King said “there has to be a conversation with the president after tonight” while Van Jones said Biden should “consider taking a different course now.”
Despite the worried reaction, if Republicans rest on their laurels, it’s possible that Democrats’ ballot trafficking operations could carry a candidate as weak as Biden across the finish line.
Democrats have spent years creating sophisticated on-the-ground ballot operations, from get-out-the-vote efforts to mail-in ballot collection. In the swing state of Pennsylvania, the state’s Democrat Party has worked with Biden’s campaign to set up more than a dozen offices focused on hosting “training sessions for volunteers, canvassing kickoffs and volunteer recruitment events,” according to the
