Biden's debate performance is the gift that keeps on giving…
A week after Biden's catastrophic debate showing, a well-known nonpartisan political handicapper shifted two key states toward former President Trump.
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball moved Michigan from “Leans Democrat” to “Toss-up.” Additionally, Minnesota was shifted from “Likely Democrat” to “Leans Democrat.”
“President Biden's debate performance was so bad that it has forced us to reassess some of our assumptions about the race,” Sabato Crystal Ball forecaster Kyle Kondik wrote in explaining the shift of the two states. “Michigan and Minnesota move to more competitive categories in our ratings.”
For a quarter-century, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin were part of the Democrats' so-called “blue wall” of states. However, Trump flipped all three in his 2016 presidential election victory over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. (RELATED: Governor Warns Michigan Is ‘Unwinnable' For Biden)
A Republican has not carried Minnesota in a presidential election since former President Nixon's 1972 reelection.
The commander-in-chief's unsteady debate showing has since spurred calls from sitting Democrat lawmakers for him to be replaced on the ticket.
On Tuesday, Texas Democrat Rep. Lloyd Doggett became the first sitting Member of Congress to publicly encourage Biden to step down. In a more damning appearance, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi switched from accusing Trump of having dementia to validating questions about Biden's mental acuity, further fueling the debate over his capacity to lead.
Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Wash.) became the first congressional Democrat to say publicly that she believes that Biden is going to lose against former President Donald Trump this fall.
“About 50 million Americans tuned in and watched that debate,” she said. “I was one of them for about five very painful minutes. We all saw what we saw, you can't undo that, and the truth, I think, is that Biden is going to lose to Trump. I know that's difficult, but I think the damage has been done by that debate.”
When asked if Biden should step down, Perez responded: “A core tenet of democracy is that you accept the results of an election and the reality is that primary voting has already happened to a degree that Biden is the nominee.”
Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine) wrote in an op-ed on Wednesday that he believes Biden is going to lose this fall.
“Biden's poor performance in the debate was not a surprise,” Golden wrote in the Bangor Daily News. “It also didn't rattle me as it has others, because the outcome of this election has been clear to me for months: While I don't plan to vote for him, Donald Trump is going to win. And I'm OK with that.”
In addition to being a respected political analyst, Sabato is the founder and director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics.
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