Joe Biden’s lackluster debate performance on Thursday heightened Democratic misgivings about whether the president should be at the top of the 2024 ballot.
But some of the Florida delegates pledged to vote for Biden at the party’s convention say — publicly at least — that they have few qualms and are standing by their man.
“If we really want to look at somebody who is not completely coherent, we just have to look at the rants of (former President Donald) Trump,” said delegate Patricia Alonzo of Tampa, brushing away concerns about Biden’s age and fitness.
Alonzo, who is running for Hillsborough County Commission, said she’s steadfast in her commitment to Biden, saying he’s a man of conviction and substance who has delivered for communities like hers. Trump, she said, is all about “flash.”
Juan Cuba, the president of the Miami-Dade Democratic Hispanic Caucus and another delegate to the Democratic National Convention, said Biden’s debate performance paled in comparison to his State of the Union address earlier this year. But he cautioned Democrats against hitting “the panic button,” saying replacing Biden on the presidential ticket would be nonsensical.
“It’s something that Democrats like to do: We like to panic at the first sign of obstacles,” Cuba said, “which is something Republicans don’t do.”
All of Florida’s delegates are pledged to Biden ahead of the Democratic National Convention in August in Chicago. But if Biden steps down before his official nomination, the delegates would be released to vote for whomever they wanted.
Florida Democratic Party chairperson Nikki Fried didn’t answer questions about whether Biden should step aside but said in a statement that “Florida Democrats will do everything possible” to make it clear that Biden is the best choice for the country. Fried, before the debate, waved off questions about Biden’s age.
A spokesperson for Biden’s campaign in Florida did not respond to the Times/Herald’s request for comment.
State Rep. Michele Rayner, D-Tampa, another delegate, said Biden “was fighting a sore throat and not feeling well” Thursday night. She acknowledged he got off to a slow start but said his record speaks for itself.
Rayner added that one friend told her during the debate that they would “vote for Joe Biden’s corpse over Donald Trump.”
State Sen. Shevrin Jones, the chairperson of the Miami-Dade Democratic Party, said having Biden step aside would be disastrous for Democrats.
“Imagine us trying to change the route while the van is moving?” he said. “How catastrophic would that be? We’re less than eight weeks away and we pivot because why? Because he had a bad night?”
But Nadia Ahmad of Seminole County said she has for months raised concerns about Biden as the party’s standard-bearer in 2024, in part because of how he has handled the war in Gaza. Ahmad is a member of the Democratic National Committee representing Florida, meaning she participates in the party’s convention but wouldn’t vote in the first round.
She said watching Biden is like grappling with how you feel “if you watch somebody driving off a cliff.” But she said she signed up to support Biden at the convention.
“It’s supposed to be a big tent party that welcomes all views and all viewpoints,” she said. “I’m a part of the Democratic Party whether they like it or not.”
Some longtime Democratic politicians like Joe Geller, a former Miami-Dade Democratic Party chairperson, noted that Biden’s been counted out before, pointing to the early days of the 2020 Democratic primary when many party strategists and operatives thought Biden’s flagging performances in the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary could spell the end for his presidential campaign.
“They couldn’t have been more wrong,” said Geller, a Democratic delegate. “And the same hand-wringers and naysayers who wrote him off four years ago are out there today.”
