“It’s The Only Way To Be Sure”

'Felt like a funeral': Grim omens emerge from Dem caucus meetinghttps://t.co/p26olpBaT1

— Raw Story (@RawStory) July 9, 2024

Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA) even said he saw a poll showing Biden was losing in his district even as the president won with 62 percent of the vote in 2020. 

Fellow Punchbowl News reporter Mica Soellner, meanwhile, relayed that there was a lot of "frustration" inside the meeting but that no consensus had yet emerged on what to do about Biden. 

Punchbowl's Heather Caygle reports that Democrats seem to believe they're stuck with Biden even though they believe his candidacy is doomed. "I haven't talked to one [Democrat] who privately says they think Biden is capable of running and beating Trump at this point," she wrote. "The debate was just a public airing of the concerns many of them have experienced/expressed privately. And that was from those who felt they actually got time with the president over the last year. Others have complained about very limited/controlled interactions. BUT they also don't want to be ostracized publicly and/or feel it's already determined that Biden will be the nominee."

Alternatively:

This is the first card on the table I’ve seen that in ten days that makes me think this is going in the presidents direction. Not certain that’s how the whole thing plays out. But there are several levels of this that are a big deal.

— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) July 9, 2024

Polls in July are all that matter:

Ah yes, 2004, when President Kerry went on to... wait, Kerry didn't win that election. The incumbent recovered.

OK, but 2016, when President Clinton took that lead and... wait, no, Trump closed the gap enough to sneak a narrow Electoral College victory.

Fine, 2020, when… https://t.co/CzVTff5DEz

— Bradley P. Moss (@BradMossEsq) July 9, 2024

The only way to defeat Trump is to hold his political opponents to a higher standard than we hold Trump to.

— New York Times Pitchbot (@DougJBalloon) July 9, 2024