HARPER WOODS, Michigan – After weeks of uncertainty over who would top the Democratic Party’s list in November, many voters expressed relief at the news that President Joe Biden would drop his bid for re-election and began thinking about who could replace him in a dramatically changed electoral landscape.
Jerod Keene, a 40-year-old athletic trainer from the swing state of Arizona, planned to vote for Biden in November but was grateful for the president’s decision, calling it “inevitable.” Keene said he is excited about the next candidate, hoping he will be vice president. Kamala Harriswhich Biden supported on Sunday.
“Kamala Harris is the easiest choice based on the fact that she is vice president and it would be difficult for the party to try to go in a different direction in that regard,” said Keene, who lives in Tucson. “And I think she looks ready.”
The Democratic Party was deeply divided since Biden poor debate performance on June 27, which left many questioning his ability to defeat Republican Donald Trump in November and secure another term. Party leaders increasingly called on Biden to step aside, but his reluctance to withdraw has left voters across the country uncertain about who would face Trump in November.
Recent AP-NORC Survey revealed that nearly two-thirds of Democrats thought Biden should withdraw from the presidential race, while one most believe Harris would perform well in the top slot.
Keene’s relief that the saga surrounding Biden’s decision is over was echoed by voters across the country in interviews with the Associated Press. In key swing states such as Wisconsin, Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Georgia and Nevada, many expressed optimism about the party’s next nominee — whether Harris or someone else.
In Pittsburgh, Fred Johnston said he is terrified of another Trump presidency and has long feared that Biden would not be able to defeat Trump again. After seeing Biden’s shaky debate performance, he was eager for Biden to drop out and hand over his candidacy to Harris.
“Kamala is someone we can vote for and that’s what we need,” Johnston said.
He also thinks she could win Pennsylvania: “I have no logical basis for that, but it’s good to have hope. I haven’t had hope for a while now.”
In Las Vegas, Lucy Ouano, 68, said she was proud of both Biden’s decision to drop out of the race and his decision to quickly support Harris.
“He’s finishing on a great note,” Ouano said. “Trump should be worried. He is now running against someone strong.”
Ouano, who emigrated from Thailand to the U.S. in 1960 as a child with his parents, said he could not have imagined this outcome just a few weeks ago, when he attended a Harris rally in Las Vegas intended to calm concerns about Harris’ campaign. Biden’s re-election. .
At the time, she told the AP that while she planned to vote for Biden, she wanted Harris at the top of the ticket.
“She’s going to uplift Asians and she’s going to uplift women,” Oaano said Sunday after learning of Biden’s decision.
Similarly, Arthur L. Downard Jr., a 72-year-old resident of Portland, Oregon, viewed Biden’s presidency favorably but said he was “very pleased” with Biden’s resignation. , he said his opinion of Biden changed after what he called a “disastrous” debate.
“He has been a great president and has done a lot for our country. But he is very old, he is not articulate,” he said. “He is not a good messenger for the Democratic Party.”
Some voters, like Nebraska resident Lacey LeGrand, reluctantly planned to vote for Biden simply because he wasn’t Trump.
“I’m definitely not supporting Trump,” LeGrand said. “So I think by default I would end up supporting Biden. I wasn’t very happy about it.”
LeGrand, a registered Democrat in the swing district of Omaha, Nebraska, a potentially decisive electoral vote that Biden and Obama previously won, believes Harris “has a chance” to defeat Trump, although she added: “I wouldn’t say it’s a great chance.” chance. ”
But not all voters were pleased with Sunday’s news. Georgia voter Dorothy Redhead, 76, was “disappointed” that Biden dropped out of the race, but said she is “just having to accept” Biden’s decision as one between the president and God.
Jarvia Haynes, a real estate agent in New Orleans, said she has “mixed feelings” about Biden’s decision to drop out of the race.
“I don’t think President Biden should have given up,” she said. “On the other hand, maybe it’s better this way.”
Haynes, 72, of Harvey, Louisiana, a suburb of New Orleans, quickly zeroed in on who should lead the Democratic ticket, saying she is “very positive about Vice President Kamala Harris’ ability to take on the role.”
She added that she hopes Harris picks Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to be her running mate.
“I think two women would change the whole dynamic of the race,” said Haynes, who joins Harris as a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., the first historically African-American intercollegiate sorority. The group has more than 360,000 members in graduate and undergraduate chapters in 12 countries and can be a formidable political force in its own right.
Barbara Orr, a psychotherapist in the Lancaster, Pennsylvania area, said she believed Biden was capable of running for president, defeating Trump and serving as president. She saw his decision to end his candidacy, however, as a sign that he is not driven by ego and acknowledged that because of his debate performance, voters assume he can’t do the job.
Orr, 65, said she is “not overly impressed” with Harris, “but she may rise to the occasion. This has happened before in history.”
She also acknowledged that Harris was not given the chance to prove herself as a candidate against Trump.
Orr, a self-described progressive who favored Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders or Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren for president in 2020, said she would probably prefer Whitmer to replace Biden on the Democratic ticket.
“I love what she represents,” Orr said.
Joe DeFrain was kayaking when a message informed him that Biden had dropped out. Although the Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan, resident said he wasn’t surprised to learn of the development, one thing did.
“I was waiting to see if all the sailors would scream with joy, because many of them are Trump fans. And I didn’t hear anything,” DeFrain said after sitting down for dinner at They Say, a restaurant in the Detroit suburb of Harper Woods.
Biden visited They Say earlier this year, a moment that manager George Ledbetter said was “the best ever.”
Ledbetters’ first reaction to the news came down to a single word: “Why?”
“He is a good president. I like Biden,” Ledbetter said. But, he added, “You have to do what you have to do.”
Ledbetter said he will support Harris despite his disappointment.
“I’ll take that too. I think she can do it. First female president. That would be cool. African-American president. It would be good again,” said Ledbetter, who is black.
As for DeFrain, he said he will be watching to see what happens before and during the Democratic National Convention.
“It’s going to be something we’ve never seen in our lifetime,” said DeFrain, who voted Democratic in the last election. “It should be fun.”
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Cappelletti reported from Grand Rapids, Michigan, Householder from Harper Woods, Michigan, and Kramon from Atlanta. Associated Press writers Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin; Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Yamat River in Las Vegas, Nevada, Chevel Johnson in New Orleans, Louisiana, Josh Funk in Omaha, Nebraska, and Claire Rush in Portland, Oregon contributed to this report.
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