WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� The sound you might have heard this past week was of voters falling between a rock and a hard place.
Apart from the sizable and of Donald Trump's supporters, the debate suddenly crystalized the worries of many Americans, a portion of President Joe Biden's supporters among them, that neither man is fit to lead the nation.
Heading into the first debate of the general election campaign, voters had faced a choice between two strikingly unpopular candidates. They then watched as Trump told a with sharpness, vigor and conviction, while Biden struggled mightily to land debating points and even to get through many sentences. It added to doubts about the 81-year-old Democratic president's fitness to be in office for four more years.
Now, the options are even more dispiriting for many Democrats, undecided voters and anti-Trump Republicans. More than a few people came away from watching the debate very conflicted.
Outside a Whole Foods in downtown Denver on Friday, registered Democrat Matthew Toellner tilted his head sideways, mouth agape, in an imitation of his favored candidate, Biden, who was seen doing that at times on the split screen when Trump was talking Thursday night.
鈥淚鈥檓 going to vote for Biden," said Toellner, 49, leaning against the wood siding of the grocery store. 鈥淎ctually, I might not.鈥�
A few minutes later, Toellner looked out to the street and rethought again. 鈥淚鈥檓 going to vote for Biden, I think I鈥檇 be a fool not to. But I just hate that I have to.鈥�
His appeal to Biden and Democrats: 鈥淧lease step down, get somebody electable."
On a Detroit park bench, Arabia Simeon was left feeling politically homeless after voting Democratic in the past two presidential elections. 鈥淚t just feels like we鈥檙e doomed no matter what," she said.
Trump's disregard for the facts suffused his arguments, though he was rarely challenged on the specifics during the debate. On abortion, for example, one of America's most divisive issues for generations, the former Republican president claimed there is universal agreement that states should decide on the legality of it. There is ferocious argument about that.
But did that matter? The public reaction, in dozens of interviews across the country, brought to mind Bill Clinton's post-presidency assessment of what voters want in fraught times: 鈥淲hen people feel uncertain, they鈥檇 rather have someone strong and wrong than weak and right."
The debate unmoored Simeon just as it did Toellner.
The 27-year-old owner of a Detroit start-up went into debate night deciding between Biden and an independent candidate, the most prominent of whom is long shot Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Now she's leaning against Biden.
鈥淚 think it just kind of validated the feeling that I was having that this election is going to be extremely hectic, and it鈥檚 no longer the conversation of the lesser of two evils for me,鈥� she said from a park bench on a work break. 鈥淚t鈥檚 more like both of these candidates don鈥檛 feel like viable options.鈥�
Simeon said that as a Black and queer person, 鈥淚t鈥檚 really disheartening to know that no matter how far we come as a country, we鈥檙e still going to factory reset when it comes to president and have to make a choice between two white men.鈥�
In large part, Democratic lawmakers in Washington and party officials across the United States closed ranks around Biden despite the panic that gripped many of them from his debate performance. But their remarks were measured, seeming to leave an opening if Biden were to make to have Democrats find another nominee.
鈥淚t鈥檚 President Biden鈥檚 decision what he wants to do with his life," said Sharif Street, chair of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party and a state senator. .鈥淪o far, he鈥檚 decided he鈥檚 our nominee, and I鈥檓 with him."
To be sure, plenty of Biden supporters saw nothing to throw them off, as much as they tended to think he blew it.
鈥淲orrisome,鈥� Jocardo Ralston of Philadelphia said of Biden's turn on the stage. Yet, Ralston said, "I鈥檓 not conflicted, nor do I feel that I am choosing the lesser of two evils. ... Biden is not the ideal choice for many, but he is the only choice for me, without regrets or hesitation.鈥�
The third-year doctoral student at the University of Pennsylvania, whose work focuses on the experiences of queer Black and Latino boys in special education classrooms, watched the debate in a Cincinnati bar while visiting the city. 鈥淎ll the work that I do and everything that I fight for is in direct opposition to Trump, his values, and his policies," he said.
Biden turned in a more spirited performance Friday at a rally in Raleigh, North Carolina, where he acknowledged he is not the debater he used to be. 鈥淚 know how to do this job,鈥� he said. "I know how to get things done.鈥� He assailed Trump in ways that eluded him the night before.
鈥淚 thought 鈥榃ell Joe, why didn鈥檛 you say that last night?鈥欌�� said Maureen Dougher, 73, who found Biden 鈥渟trong,鈥� 鈥渄efinite鈥� and 鈥渧ery clear鈥� in his rally remarks. In a debate watched by an estimated 51.3 million people, according to a preliminary estimate by the Nielsen company, Biden鈥檚 showing 鈥渄idn鈥檛 come across as well as it did today.鈥�
Amina Barhumi, 44, of Orland Park, Illinois, is affiliated with Muslim Civic Coalition and is sizing up Biden and Trump in part on how she expects each will act on the interests of American Muslims. Count her as demoralized about the candidate choices, too. She's hearing 鈥渆ssentially the same rhetoric鈥� from both.
鈥淲e have not-so-great options that are front-runners on the ticket,鈥� she said. "Yesterday was an affirmation of exactly that.鈥�
鈥淨uite frankly, I think it was very difficult to watch,鈥� she said of the debate. 鈥淚 have teenagers and it felt like a bunch of bickering and nonsensical name-calling. And I think the American public expects more.鈥�
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Associated Press journalists Jesse Bedayn in Denver; Mike Householder in Detroit; Carolyn Kaster in Cincinnati; Melissa Perez Winder in Bridgeview, Illinois; and Makiya Seminera in Raleigh, North Carolina, contributed to this report.
Calvin Woodward, The Associated Press
