With President Joe Biden facing growing public pressure to step aside after last week's debate, prominent upstate New York Democrats are divided on the question.
Democrats are divided over whether President Biden should continue campaigning for reelection or pass the baton to someone else. Biden's family used a weekend gathering at Camp David to urge him to stay in the race.
Former Niskayuna Town Board member Denise Murphy McGraw is the national co-chair of Catholics Vote Common Good.
"There's no disputing that President Biden did not have a good night the other night. It was clear. It was visible to all of us. It was a painful hour and a half, I will say, though, as probably, I say with great confidence, one of the only people in the considerable WAMC listening area that has had a conversation directly with the leader of the free world over the last few months, when I spoke to him and when I was with him in person, he knew what day it was, he knew who I was, he knew why he was there. He was the leader of the free world. So I am not concerned in the least about his capacity or all these things that people are now saying," said Murphy McGraw.
State Assemblymember John McDonald of the 108th district is more concerned about Biden's policies than his performance.
"Yes, the person is important, but the policies that impact everyday New Yorkers and everyday United States citizens is also a critical part. Joe Biden has done a remarkable job in regards to working for everybody in this country and trying to make sure that we've got jobs and we've got opportunity. And therefore I can see why, you know, a lot of people are disappointed in his performance, and we'll leave it at that," McDonald said.
Policies aside, 110th district state Assemblyman Phil Steck worries the reelection campaign could be overshadowed by Biden's struggles at the podium.
"I might be confident in the president as the president and in his policies, but I am not confident in the president as a candidate, and I think the Democratic Party would be better served by a replacement," said Steck. "I think that, for example, a lot of this, when you're in a close race, a lot depends on perception. And you can talk about how important it is to defeat Donald Trump, but if the perception is that the president is not fit for this campaign, then it would be better for the party and for the nation that he step aside in favor of another candidate."
109th district Assemblymember Pat Fahy disagrees.
"These are unsettling times, but you have to go back to your core and my core, you just have to go who has demonstrated things. Who is trying to bring stability, back to the Middle East, back to Ukraine? Do we want somebody who coddles up to Putin? I mean, it's just incredulous to me that it's even a race. How can we allow a communist dictator. It's Ukraine now, what about Poland? What about all but what about the rest of Eastern and Western Europe? What about NATO? We can't be flippant about this. We absolutely cannot be flippant. We have, we have a statesman, and we have somebody who is incredibly experienced. Yes, he had a bad night, but less than 24 hours later, we saw somebody you know who was the Joe we know, so let's go with the Joe we know," said Fahy.
