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When President Joe Biden's campaign called for a presidential debate in late June, it was hoping to pitch undecided voters on a veteran lawmaker with a record of policy accomplishments and to contrast him with an erratic politician who has promised to weaponize the justice system and who was recently convicted of a crime.
But Biden's disastrous performance Thursday night may have done the opposite. Reporting from several news outlets Friday morning indicated that the debate may have swayed some undecided voters away from Biden and toward former President Donald Trump, or simply left them despondent at their options.
Pollster Frank Luntz said on CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Friday morning that of the 14 people in his focus group of undecided voters in swing states, 12 leaned toward Trump after watching the debate.
Several undecided voters told CBS News that neither candidate had made a strong case for himself. “I was worried Biden would show he’s not up to the job, but he was even worse than I feared,” one 63-year-old undecided voter in Massachusetts told Reuters. “I might just abstain.”
While Trump blustered through the debate with lie after lie, becoming more unruly as the night progressed, his mendacity was overshadowed by Biden's stumbling speech and shaky demeanor. Even with the post-debate panic among Democrats, party loyalists are likely to end up rallying behind Biden, assuming he holds on to the nomination.
But every vote is crucial in an election this close, and rather than expanding his appeal among undecided voters, Biden's poor showing at the debate may have shrunk it.
Of course, a few dozen undecided voters are hardly an accurate sample size. Four months out from the election, it's hard to say where voter sentiment will end up by November. But the debate made it plain to American voters that they are being asked to choose between two flawed candidates. And if you were an undecided voter or a "double hater" who tuned in to the debate hoping to get clarity on your decision, you might have come away from it more dismayed than ever.