While some Democrats are sounding the alarm and calling for President Biden to be replaced, Democratic voters in Georgia expressed disappointment with the president’s performance in the debate, but were not surprised.
As some party officials wet their beds, voters in the crucial state are wondering who could actually replace Biden at this late stage. They are divided on whether they would even try.
But what they do agree on is that they will vote for Biden if he qualifies, even after the debate was painful for them to watch.
“I was a little disappointed,” said 70-year-old Cecio Dozier. ‘I was for Biden. It’s not that he wasn’t responding to questions, it’s just his body language and there were times when he seemed to get lost in the conversation.”
Dozier said he was unimpressed and blamed the Democratic Party.
Georgia Democrats expressed disappointment but were not surprised by Biden’s debate performance, calling it “poor” and “troubling,” but they had mixed reactions to the idea of replacing him as the nominee
“They’ve known for a long time that there was something wrong with him, and they kept pushing him forward. Now they’re willing to consider finding someone else. A little late for that, huh?”
Dozier will vote for Biden in November if he is the nominee or a Democratic replacement. If it were up to him, he would have one name in mind.
“They have to be someone who is dynamic and who can get voters out to vote, because it’s such a last-minute effort,” Dozier said. “There was a time when people were talking about Michelle Obama, but I don’t think she would do that. Definitely not Kamala Harris.”
The former first lady rejected the idea of running for president earlier this year.
Dozier also said that if push came to shove, he would settle for either of Georgia’s two Democratic senators.
He said the Democratic Party seems weak right now, so he just wants someone to step up and take over.
The black Atlanta resident criticized Donald Trump’s comments during the debate about “black jobs” and said he would never vote for someone he believes wants to take away freedoms.
“I remember when (John) Kennedy was president. It just seemed like an honor to be president, but with Trump it feels like he just wants to take over. He hasn’t done anything for me yet.’
Kimberly Nesbitt, 49, was able to follow the first half of the debate, but was frustrated and had to stop the conversation.
“It was very bad — disturbing,” she said of Biden’s performance. “But I’m not going to let that sink in. It’s like you pick your poison at this point.”
Nesbitt, who is from Tucker, Georgia, disagrees with Democrats proposing a Biden replacement at this stage.
“Democrats grind their teeth and when something happens that isn’t perfect, they start to implode, especially the liberals,” she said.
It is important to her to have a Democrat in power if additional vacancies arise on the Supreme Court in the next term.
Georgia Democrats had mixed reactions to the idea of replacing Biden as the nominee, but they agreed that if he were the nominee against Trump, they would vote for him despite the debate performance.
Biden won Georgia by fewer than 12,000 votes in 2020. Democrats were concerned about re-casting votes this fall
She believes those watching the debate had already made up their minds and now it’s about turnout.
“I think the Democrats just need to calm down. There’s three or four months to go. Go through the convention, make the nominations and just stick to the policy and go from there.”
While Nesbitt wouldn’t consider the idea of another nominee, Lisa Brooks of Atlanta said she believes Biden should be replaced. The problem for her is that she couldn’t think of a good replacement.
If push comes to shove, she’ll stick with Biden in November.
“He seems to be for the people. But he’s old,” she said. “Donald Trump is everywhere. He’s not to be trusted at all.”
For her, the debate was a circus, and she claimed that Biden had no rebuttal to many of Trump’s accusations, but that made no difference in her decision.
“Donald Trump was everywhere. He made a lot of false accusations, so it’s just confusing.”
A significant number of people DailyMail.com spoke to didn’t even watch the debate, but some were able to read about it on Friday morning.
40-year-old Ryan Harris did not see the disastrous confrontation between Biden and Trump.
“I felt like it would be too painful to watch,” he laughed. Instead, he got the synopsis.
“It didn’t turn out great,” he said, shaking his head. “I unfortunately feel what a lot of people are feeling, which is, ‘how did we get to this point where these are our options?'”
Harris said he is terrified of the “slide into fascism that would otherwise happen” if he doesn’t vote for Biden. He called Trump “dystopian” and Biden “just plain depressing.”
He believes that Biden should be replaced, but only if there is actually a follow-up to the conversation with a plan. He, too, is unsure of a nominee — perhaps Pete Buttigieg, the 2020 candidate currently serving as Secretary of Transportation.
Harris said there was just a lot of general fear at the time.
Michelle Obama’s name was mentioned by Democratic voters in Georgia as a replacement for Biden, but she had already declined earlier this year to ever run for president
A Georgia voter named Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg as a possible Biden replacement
There is intense pressure on Democrats to show up in high-stakes states like Georgia, where the first presidential debate was held. Biden won by fewer than 12,000 votes in 2020 and will have to go back into lockdown to win re-election.
Several Atlanta residents DailyMail.com spoke to after the debate who had not followed the big event but would vote in the November election said Biden was not yet sure whether he would vote.
Jarvis Thompson, 42, said he still didn’t know who he would vote for, but that he would vote this fall.
He didn’t watch the debate but is leaning toward voting for a third-party candidate after voting for Biden in 2020.
Isaiah Green, also of Atlanta, did not vote in 2020 but plans to do so in November. As things stand now, the 25-year-old will likely vote for Trump.
“He shows that he does a lot of crazy things, he says a lot of crazy things, but that’s who he is,” he said. He said that with others it’s a facade.
“I’d rather Trump know he’s crazy,” Green said.