After his campaign-ending debate in June, allies of President Joe Biden — those who had not yet come to terms with the gravity of what had happened — were adamant: If he’s to have any chance of winning in November, we can’t be doing this again. The 81-year-old Democrat had appeared frail and sounded incoherent, undermining confidence that he could do the job for another four years, much less another televised contest with his Republican opponent.
“We didn’t even need this debate,” one California Democrat assured reporters. “You have a debate so that you can learn about a candidate. There’s nothing else to know.”
