Biden’s decision to drop out crystallized Sunday. His staff knew one minute before the public did

HARPER WOODS, Mich.: After weeks of uncertainty over who will top the Democratic ticket in November, many voters expressed relief at the news that President Joe Biden would drop his re-election bid and began to think , who can replace him dramatically changed the electoral landscape.
Jarrod Keen, a 40-year-old athletic trainer from Arizona, had planned to vote for Biden in November, but was grateful for the president's decision, calling it “inevitable.” Keane said he is excited about the next candidate, hoping it will be Vice President Kamala Harris, whom Biden endorsed on Sunday.
“Kamala Harris is the easiest choice, based on her being the vice president, and it would be difficult for the party to try to go in another direction,” said Keane, who lives in Tucson. “And I think she seems ready.”
The Democratic Party is deeply divided after Biden's poor performance in the June 27 debate, leaving many questioning his ability to defeat Republican Donald Trump in November and secure another term. Party leaders have increasingly called on Biden to step aside, but his reluctance to back down has left voters across the country unsure about who will face Trump in November.
A recent AP-NORC poll found that nearly two-thirds of Democrats think Biden should drop out of the presidential race, while a majority think Harris will do well in the top spot.
Keane's relief that the saga surrounding Biden's decision is over was echoed by voters across the country in an interview with The Associated Press. In key states like Wisconsin, Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Georgia and Nevada, many expressed optimism about the party's next nominee — whether Harris or someone else.

In Pittsburgh, Fred Johnston said he feared another Trump presidency and had long worried that Biden would not be able to beat Trump again. After seeing Biden's shaky debate performance, he really wanted Biden to drop out and hand over his candidacy to Harris.
“Kamala is someone we can vote for and that's what we need,” Johnston said.
He also thinks she could win Pennsylvania: “I have no logical reason for that, but it's good to have hope. For a while I had no hope.”
In Las Vegas, Lucy Uano, 68, said she was proud of both Biden's decision to drop out of the race and his move to quickly endorse Harris.
“It ends on a great note,” Uano said. “Trump should be worried. Now he's fighting against someone strong.”
Uano, who immigrated to the U.S. from Thailand with her parents in 1960, said she couldn't have imagined the outcome just weeks ago when she attended a Harris rally in Las Vegas aimed at allaying concerns about the campaign to Biden's re-election.
At the time, she told the AP that while she planned to vote for Biden, she wanted Harris at the top of the ticket.
“She's going to ban Asians and women,” Ohano said Sunday after learning of Biden's decision.
Arthur L. Downard Jr., 72, of Portland, Oregon, was similarly positive about a Biden presidency but said he was “very glad” that Biden had stepped aside. The Democratic voter, who cast his vote for Biden in 2020, said his opinion of Biden changed after what he called a “disastrous” debate.
“He was a great president and did a lot for our country. But he is too old, he is illegible,” he said. “He is not a good ambassador for the Democratic Party.”
Some voters, like Nebraska resident Lacey LeGrand, planned to cast a reluctant vote for Biden simply because he's not Trump.
“I definitely don't support Trump,” Legrand said. “So I think by default I was going to support Biden. I wasn't very happy about it.”
LeGrand, a registered Democrat in the Nebraska district, a potentially swing vote previously won by Biden and Obama, believes Harris “has a chance” to beat Trump, though she added, “I wouldn't say it's a great chance.”
But not all voters took Sunday's news to heart. Dorothy Redhead, 76, a Georgia voter, was “disappointed” that Biden dropped out of the race, but said she “just has to accept” Biden's decision as one between the president and God.
Jarvia Haynes, a real estate agent in New Orleans, said she has “mixed feelings” about Biden's decision to drop out of the race.
“I don't think President Biden should have recused himself,” she said. “On the other hand, maybe it's for the best.”
Haynes, 72, of Harvey, La., a suburb of New Orleans, quickly focused on who should lead the Democratic ticket, saying she was “very positive that Vice President Kamala Harris can handle the job.”
She added that she hopes Harris will pick Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer as her running mate.
“I think two women would have changed the whole dynamic of the race,” said Haynes, who joined Harris as a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., the first intercollegiate historic African-American sorority. The group has more than 360,000 members in graduate and undergraduate chapters in 12 countries and could become a formidable political force in its own right.
Barbara Orr, a psychotherapist in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, said she thinks Biden is capable of running for president, defeating Trump and becoming president. However, she saw his decision to end his candidacy as a sign that he was not driven by selfishness and acknowledged that his debates led voters to believe he could not do the job.
Orr, 65, said she was “not really impressed” by Harris, “but she might be on top. This happened in history.”
She also acknowledged that Harris didn't get a chance to prove her mettle as Trump's running mate.
Orr, a self-described progressive who supports Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders or Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren for president in 2020, said she would likely favor Whitmer to replace Biden in the Democratic primary.
“I like what she stands for,” Orr said.
Joe DeFrain was kayaking when he got word that Biden had dropped out. While the Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan, resident said he wasn't stunned to find out, one thing surprised him.
“I was waiting to see if all the boaters would be screaming with joy because a lot of them are Trump supporters. And I didn't hear anything,” Defrain said after sitting down to lunch at They Say in the Detroit suburb of Harper Woods.
Biden visited They Say earlier this year, and manager George Ledbetter called the moment “the best ever.”
Ledbetters first reaction to the news was one word: “Why?”
“He is a good president. I like Biden,” Ledbetter said. But, he added, “You gotta do what you gotta do.”
Ledbetter said he would support Harris despite his disappointment.
“I'll take that too. I think she can do it. The first female president. That would be nice. African American president. It would be nice to do it again,” said Ledbetter, who is Black.
As for DeFrain, he said he will be watching what happens before and during the Democratic National Convention.
“It's going to be something we've never seen in our lifetime,” said DeFrain, who voted Democratic in the last election. “It should be entertaining.”