67% of Democrats want someone other than Biden; 82% can’t name who they want

[Tekken_Guy]

We know this. Many less tuned-in Democrats who aren't accepting that changing horses would actually be worse than nominating Biden are bring pouty and not all that constructive since they can't name someone they prefer.

It's frustrating right now, but I'm still confident that they'll come around in time when it becomes clear what the choice actually is and that they can't order off the menu if they want to eat at all.

Not really surprising. There’s just this kinda frustrated acceptance that has dogged the idea of Biden’s candidacy since 2019.

Started a little bit with 2016 and Hillary too.

All I know is that "You're stuck with him. What are you gonna do, vote for Trump?" doesn't sound like the best message to send to Democrats.

To hell with inspiration. That sunk us in 2016 and that's the reality. Sorry, but the entire Democratic Party is behind Biden and if it isn't him who stays President then an even more empowered Trump will. That fear should be a sufficient enough motivator if  these certain Democrats knew what was good for them.

I'm sorry, but sometimes in life you don't always get every choice you want. Maybe it would help if these voters actually could identify who they would prefer. If they can't then they really just need to get their heads straight and stop whining.

I know this sounds patronizing, but as I said before, I do think when Biden hits the campaign trail, especially in contrast to Trump, they'll recognize that even if he is too old and benign that he is still the better fit for the job.

Biden is literally neck and neck with Donald Trump! A competent candidate would blow him out of the water!

Then why not poll them?

[Tekken_Guy]

There's definitely a perception among most people outside of the party activist bubble that Biden is a do-nothing President (at best) and an incompetent senile fool (at worst), regardless of where the truth actually lies. Perceptions matter a hell of a lot more than the facts on the ground, and Democrats need to come to terms with this fact.

But shouldn’t these voters still come home to him?

[Tekken_Guy]

There's definitely a perception among most people outside of the party activist bubble that Biden is a do-nothing President (at best) and an incompetent senile fool (at worst), regardless of where the truth actually lies. Perceptions matter a hell of a lot more than the facts on the ground, and Democrats need to come to terms with this fact.

But shouldn’t these voters still come home to him?

Some of them will because of Trump, yes.
But there's definitely also a lot of people who are disillusioned enough with Biden's uninspired and 'boring' image (particularly young voters) that they may just stay home or vote 3rd party in 2024, even against Trump. Regardless of how true such a paradigm actually is, a lot of young voters (especially young leftists) see establishment liberals and Republicans as being nothing but two sides of the same corporatist coin.

American politics is something that's very easy to get disillusioned about in the modern day, and you're not going to win many favors by trying to explain Modern Monetary Theory to someone who's complaining about their leaky roof.

I’d also argue that 2024 Trump isn’t as compelling a villain as 2016 Trump was to these voters. Trump in 2016 was more infamous for his views on POC and women rather than his stance on free and fair elections.

Also, won’t Trump have a similar enthusiasm issue regarding some of his soft supporters?

[Tekken_Guy]

I feel like the universal expectation in the 2020 primary was Biden was going to defeat Trump and serve one term after. The one term and pass to the torch expectation kind of smoothed over age concerns in the primary. Most Dem voters were probably not expecting the idea of voting for a soon to be 86 y/o President down the road. So the polling on this makes sense to me. Biden has accomplished enough that he could step aside and still have a respectable legacy but there's his ego and he boxed himself with Harris, maybe on purpose.

There was also something of an expectation that if Trump lost he’d retire from politics, due to reports he didn’t like the actual job of the presidency during his first term.