Bewildered by tepid enthusiasm for a president they see as transformative, these Democrats occupy a lonely place in U.S. politics: “I feel like I’m the only one.”
Andrea Russell is a fixture on Earp Street, the quiet strip of rowhouses in South Philadelphia where she has lived for 45 years. In the afternoons, neighbors come and go from her living room as her 16-year-old cat, George, sits perched above a television that is usually tuned to cable news.
Ms. Russell, a 77-year-old retired legal secretary, thinks President Biden would fit right in. “He’d come on by Earp Street,” she said. “I could picture going up to him and saying, ‘Hi, Joe.’ I can see him here.” She identifies with him, she said, and admires his integrity and his record. She also loves his eyes.
Her friend, Kathy Staller, also 77, said she was as eager to vote for Mr. Biden as she was for Barack Obama in 2008. “I am excited,” she said. “I hope more people feel the way I do.”
Ms. Russell and Ms. Staller are ardent, unreserved supporters of Mr. Biden — part of a small but dedicated group of Democratic voters who think that he is not merely the party’s only option against Donald J. Trump but, in fact, a great, transformative president who clearly deserves another four years in office.
They occupy a lonely position in American politics.
Mr. Biden, 81, has never inspired the kind of excitement that Mr. Obama did, and he is not a movement candidate, in contrast to his likely 2024 rival, Mr. Trump, who is 77. Historically, he has been far more skilled at connecting one to one on the campaign trail than energizing crowds with soaring oratory.
But his poll numbers have been especially rough lately. A New York Times/Siena College poll released this weekend found that just 43 percent of respondents would vote for him if the election were today, compared with 48 percent for Mr. Trump.
Forty-five percent of Democratic primary voters surveyed said they thought he should not be the party’s nominee — and just 23 percent of primary voters said they were enthusiastic about Mr. Biden being the Democratic nominee. That stands in contrast to the nearly half of Republican primary voters who said they were enthusiastic about Mr. Trump’s candidacy.
The Biden campaign dismissed the latest numbers over the weekend, pointing to strong Democratic performances in recent special elections and highlighting Republican divisions and cash problems.
Mr. Biden also has a slice of voters who adore him. They wave off concerns about his age and bristle at the suggestion that anyone else could meet the moment.
In interviews with nearly two dozen of these Democrats — many of them older, and most of them women — they sounded by turns beleaguered, bewildered and protective.
How many of these people post on GIAHORT?
Andrea Russell is a fixture on Earp Street, the quiet strip of rowhouses in South Philadelphia where she has lived for 45 years. In the afternoons, neighbors come and go from her living room as her 16-year-old cat, George, sits perched above a television that is usually tuned to cable news.
Ms. Russell, a 77-year-old retired legal secretary, thinks President Biden would fit right in. “He’d come on by Earp Street,” she said. “I could picture going up to him and saying, ‘Hi, Joe.’ I can see him here.” She identifies with him, she said, and admires his integrity and his record. She also loves his eyes.
Her friend, Kathy Staller, also 77, said she was as eager to vote for Mr. Biden as she was for Barack Obama in 2008. “I am excited,” she said. “I hope more people feel the way I do.”
Ms. Russell and Ms. Staller are ardent, unreserved supporters of Mr. Biden — part of a small but dedicated group of Democratic voters who think that he is not merely the party’s only option against Donald J. Trump but, in fact, a great, transformative president who clearly deserves another four years in office.
They occupy a lonely position in American politics.
Mr. Biden, 81, has never inspired the kind of excitement that Mr. Obama did, and he is not a movement candidate, in contrast to his likely 2024 rival, Mr. Trump, who is 77. Historically, he has been far more skilled at connecting one to one on the campaign trail than energizing crowds with soaring oratory.
But his poll numbers have been especially rough lately. A New York Times/Siena College poll released this weekend found that just 43 percent of respondents would vote for him if the election were today, compared with 48 percent for Mr. Trump.
Forty-five percent of Democratic primary voters surveyed said they thought he should not be the party’s nominee — and just 23 percent of primary voters said they were enthusiastic about Mr. Biden being the Democratic nominee. That stands in contrast to the nearly half of Republican primary voters who said they were enthusiastic about Mr. Trump’s candidacy.
The Biden campaign dismissed the latest numbers over the weekend, pointing to strong Democratic performances in recent special elections and highlighting Republican divisions and cash problems.
Mr. Biden also has a slice of voters who adore him. They wave off concerns about his age and bristle at the suggestion that anyone else could meet the moment.
In interviews with nearly two dozen of these Democrats — many of them older, and most of them women — they sounded by turns beleaguered, bewildered and protective.
How many of these people post on GIAHORT?
