Joe Biden came to Madison, Wisconsin, to shore up his presidential campaign. Here's what voters had to say.
MADISON – With voter enthusiasm lagging among Democrats, Joe Biden looked to court Dane County voters in a Madison campaign stop Friday – arguably the most important stop of this campaign cycle following the onslaught of concerns over his halting debate performance against Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Biden needs liberal Dane County voters now more than ever. But interviews with the Journal Sentinel before and following his rally showed a divided Democratic electorate in Madison, with voters in disagreement over Biden’s abilities and electability.
A defiant Biden displayed more vigor and clarity in his speech in Madison on Friday, but he still stumbled over some words and at one point declared he would beat Trump "again in 2020" before correcting himself. He pushed back against calls for another Democratic candidate in the race, saying he’s not letting “one 90-minute debate wipe out three and a half years of work," he said.
"They're trying to push me out of the race. Let me say this clearly as I can, I'm staying in the race,” the 81-year-old Biden said.
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The message landed for James Tinjum, who had doubts about Biden’s debate performance but attended Biden’s rally Friday.
"He admitted he's not a good debater. It doesn't matter,” Tinjum told the Journal Sentinel. “Say what you want, but President Biden has gotten things done, not only when he was vice president, but he gets things done now as president.”
But beyond the venue of invited Biden supporters, Madison Democrats weren’t so sure. Some expressed stark concern about the president’s age and cognitive abilities.
“After the debate, a lot of people don't want him in general, so I think a new candidate is probably necessary,” Lauren Calvetti said in an interview at James Madison Park.
Younger voters 'settling for Biden,' would prefer an alternative candidate
It makes sense the Biden campaign chose Madison as one of the first stops on the President’s redemption tour. Fast-growing Dane County has become an essential base for the party. Madison and its nearby suburbs generated about 35,000 more votes in 2020 than in 2016's matchup between Trump and Hillary Clinton.
College-age voters on UW-Madison’s campus were a key part of that turnout effort, but on Thursday afternoon, they expressed concern over Biden’s age, handling of the war in Gaza and a halting debate performance that has led some Democratic donors and political colleagues to call for the president to leave the race.
Maddie Gunderson, 23, Maryn Johnson, 23, and Ryan Harper, 25, said Biden sounded like he was mumbling and going on tangents during the debate in “a random string of thoughts that did not feel coherent.”
“I knew it to was going to be bad, but I didn’t think it was going to be that bad,” Harper said of the debate.
Johnson said Biden’s policy in Gaza is “the only reason” she would consider voting for someone other than Biden, but will support the Democratic Party to protect reproductive rights and environmental protections.
Biden’s handling of Middle East policy has been a contentious part of his campaign, especially among young voters. Roughly 48,000 Wisconsinites – more than double the 20,000 votes that secured Biden’s 2020 win — voted “uninstructed” in the April presidential primary to protest the U.S. government’s support of Israel in its military response to Oct. 7 attacks that has killed thousands of Palestinians.
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About 75 pro-Palestinian protestors on Madison's Sherman Avenue expressed those concerns into speakerphones outside of Biden’s Friday event, holding signs including “Pres. Biden, Serve your country — not your ego. Exit now,” “I heart you Joe, Bow out" and "Give it up, Joe”
Polling shows the Israel-Gaza war ranks significantly lower on voters’ priority list than top issues like the economy, immigration and border security and abortion policy.
Johnson said she would prefer Vice President Kamala Harris atop the ticket.
“He is, frankly an elderly man, and I would prefer to have somebody who is younger,” Johnson said. “I don't necessarily know if she's more progressive, but I do think having a woman of color as a president, while not a solution to problems, is certainly something that increases visibility to identities outside of white men.”
Polls show Biden has an enthusiasm problem
There’s a growing enthusiasm problem for Biden in Wisconsin. Those very enthusiastic to vote overwhelmingly support Trump 61% to 39%, according to the most recent Marquette Poll.
Marquette Pollster Charles Franklin said it’s “a huge advantage to Trump” that creates “a path for Joe Biden to lose this election pretty badly.
Zach Schumacher, 23, will vote for whoever the Democratic candidate is. He said his enthusiasm levels for Biden were “never super high” but “are even lower now.”
“I will probably vote for Joe Biden, although I'm not excited about that vote,” Gunderson said. “it just feels like the lesser of two evils.”
That’s bad news for Biden, who’s trailing further behind Trump than he was at this time in the race in 2020. He won the state by 20,000 votes in 2020, while Trump won with 23,000 votes in 2016. According to the latest Marquette University Law School poll, Biden leads Trump 51% to 49%.
At the event Friday, Biden sought to remedy those concerns with his 18-minute speech, where he reiterated the stakes of the election and Trump’s threats to democracy while playfully poking at his age.
"You probably also noticed by discussion about my age. I know I look 40," he joked. "I keep seeing all those stories about being too old. Let me say something ... I wasn't too old to create over 15 million new jobs, to make sure 21 million Americans are insured under the Affordable Care Act."
Heidi Dexter, 58, a volunteer with the Waunakee Area Democrats in attendance on Friday, said she is “a thousand percent” behind Biden.
“I’m voting for democracy,” Dexter said. “I'm voting against Christian nationalists and Donald Trump and Project 2025.”
Amber Cohen, 41, speaking from Friday’s event, said she would vote for the Democratic candidate no matter what, but said putting in anyone else is “a terrible idea this late in the race.”
“I've been a Democrat since I understood what a Democrat was, and I just feel like this is really important,” Cohen said. “I'm pretty tired of people just constantly questioning Biden's age as if that's the issue and not focusing on the utter barrage of lies he was faced with.”
Tinjum described the atmosphere in the crowd Friday as “cautiously optimistic,” and said energy levels rose as the event went on.
Democrats on Friday chanted “Four more years” and “Biden-Harris.” But there was noticeably less excitement than at Trump’s rally in Racine last month, where voters described the security line as “waiting in line for a rock concert” and “the Fourth of July on steroids.”
Voters who spoke to the Journal Sentinel on Thursday and Friday described it as an “anyone but Trump” vote, citing Trump’s frequent lies, threats to reproductive rights and LGBTQ+ communities and the far-right Project 2025.
Calvetti, who voted for the first time in 2020, said she wished a new, younger face was representing the party and wants the election “to be done and over with.”
“I voted last term and I was super excited to get Trump out of office. Now it's not as exciting because you can see both of their faults,” Calvetti said. “Biden is the better of lesser evils, I guess.”
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: What Madison voters are saying about Joe Biden, debate performance