Joe Biden at the podium during the CNN debate against Donald Trump
(Photo : Justin Sullivan/GettyImages)
Joe Biden at the podium during the CNN debate against Donald Trump

Devastated Democrats were suddenly seriously talking about replacing Joe Biden as the party's presidential candidate following a debate performance that Barack Obama's former campaign manager blasted as a "DEFCON 1" disaster for Biden and the Democrats.

Biden's surprisingly wooden, stumbling performance against a bullying, brazenly lying Donald Trump took Democrats by surprise.

Some names already surfacing as possible replacement candidates included Vice President Kamala Harris (though her approval ratings are low), California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, and even Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), though all have pledged their support to Biden.

Trump is only three years older than Biden but appeared to be "30 years" younger than Biden on stage, Obama's campaign head David Plouffe told MSNBC's Rachel Maddow. The president had several oppotunities to crush Trump on the debate stage but they simply blew past him, Plouffle complained.

Former Barack Obama adviser and now CNN analyst Van Jones grew emotional after what he called the "painful" debate and suggested that Biden may have to be replaced in the race for any hope of a victory.

"I love that guy," Jones said of Biden. "He's a good man. He loves his country. He's doing the best that he can. But he had a test to meet tonight to restore the confidence of the country and of the base. And he failed to do that."

There is "time for this party to figure out a different way forward, if he will allow us to do that," Jones added. 

An analysis by CNN, which hosted the debate, declared a "full-blown Democratic panic was underway" just minutes into the faceoff.

Both Democratic strategists and deep-pocketed donors were coming forward with pleas to consider replacing Biden, according to multiple media reports.

One contributor complained that Biden's stunningly weak performance was overshadowing Trump's lies and diastrous policies, Politico reported.

Gov. Newsom stood by the president. He called replacement talk in an interview on MSNBC Thursday "unhelpful" and "unnecessary," insisting: "We gotta to keep our heads high."

He added: "You don't turn your back because of one performance. What kind of party does that?"

As for Biden, he told a small crowd at a Waffle House in Atlanta following the debate: "I think we did well," adding: "It's hard to debate a liar."

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