One prominent operative text read “Time for an open convention.”

All Joe Biden had to do was similar performance from the State of the Union address.

Instead, he mumbled. He fell. And with less than five months until November, he tapped into Democrats their worst fearsthe idea that he’s going to lose in this race and will lose to Donald Trump.

It was alarm time for Democrats began ringing after Biden began speaking in a monotone, hoarse voice. A few minutes into the debate Biden struggled to present an efficient defense of the economy under his watch. He also sloppy in the descriptions of the health programs that he has made central to his reelection campaign, stating “we finally beat Medicare” and erroneously stating that his administration has cut the cost of insulin. He got his way into an impasse about Afghanistan and brought the issue of his administration’s bungled withdrawal of troops without prompting. He often misunderstood “billion” and “million,” and was trapped for long periods of the 90-minute debate, playing defense.

If he didn’t speak and he was not speaking, he was seated behind his podium with his looking at his mouth, his eyes open and not blinking for long periods of time.

“Biden is toast — calling it now,” said Jay Surdukowski, an attorney and Democratic activist from New Hampshire who co-chaired former Maryland governor. Martin O’Malley’s 2016 presidential bid in the state.

In texts to POLITICO, Democrats expressed confusion and anxiety as they watched the beginning of the show. A Former Biden White House and campaign advisor described it as “terrible,” adding that they’ve been forced to ask themselves repeatedly and overagain “What did he say? This is a complete blunder.”

“Not good,” Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) wrote in his letter.

POLITICO interviewed more than 12 Democrats who were given anonymity to discuss Biden’s performance.

Biden’s team quickly came out to defend the president’s actions. The first time they claimed he was suffering from an illness (and that the Covid-19 test was negative). They then claimed Trump was harming himself by slamming Biden’s record as a president.

Biden did seem to gain strength throughout the night, with one point, he seized on Trump’s stated disqualification of soldiers who died for being “suckers and losers” to criticize the former president as the true “sucker” and “loser.” On other occasions Biden hammered on Trump’s criminal verdict of New York.

“The only person on this stage who’s a convicted felon is the man I’m looking at right now,” Biden stated.

First impressions are important especially to those just tuning in to the race and who were more likely to tune in to the first debate rather than the one set for the month of September. In addition, rather than setting the tone for the subsequent phase of the Presidential campaign, Biden’s unsteady performance sparked fears of Democrats that the octogenarian who’s physical and mental health were viewed as the voters’ main concerns in his return into the White House might not even be able to lead the party into November.

“Time for an open convention,” one of the most prominent operational text read.

Biden’s staff had attempted to manipulate the debate to his advantage by urging the debate to start in the early hours and without a crowd. The president also was willing to host the event in part to ease Democratic anxieties about whether he would be able to win in November.

Then, they didn’t seek to hide his bad behavior, instead they sought to stress the fact that Trump continued to pose a threat American concerns both at both home and abroad.

“It was an inefficient start. That’s evident to everyone. I’m not going argue about that,” Vice President Kamala Harris spoke to the CNN’s Anderson Cooper an hour after the debate concluded. “I’m talking about the election on November 6th. This is one of the most significant elections of our lives. Are we willing to think about the November election and take a course to America that will lead to the demise of the democratic process?”

While certain Democrats did not hesitate to ignore Biden’s mistakes -for example, Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) stated that Biden “isn’t a TV showman, he’s a workhorse” The direction of the race is drastically altered.

“My job at the moment is to be completely sincere. Joe Biden had one thing that he was required to do this evening. He didn’t,” former Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) spoke to MSNBC. “He was a man with one task that he needed to complete. It was to reassure America of his ability to be able to the job given his age. He failed in this tonight.”

Already certain Democrats were expressing their opinion that Biden should withdraw from his campaign. One significant Democratic supporter and Biden fan said, simply: “Biden needs to drop out. No question about it.”

Biden had a difficult time trying to present convincing arguments on the campaign’s most important selling points, while also fumbling with his health insurance record, and failing to write his response to his support for the right to abortion.

“I am in favor of Roe in v. Wade. There are three trimesters. The first one is between two women and a physician. The second time, it’s between two doctors in a very difficult situation. Third time, it’s between the doctor. I’m referring to with the government and between the patient,” he said.

Trump was also tripped. Trump said that the former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s daughter, who is a documentary filmmaker who is an “fil-i-maker.” He accused Democrats of seeking to “take the life” of children “after birth.” He exaggerated the strength of the economy during his presidency.

He reaffirmed his support of those who were. 6 insurrectionists before going into a long tirade against the verdicts for hundreds Trump supporters who took over the Capitol to try to stop the 2020 presidential election. When repeatedly asked if you would be willing to accept the outcome of the election regardless of the outcome, Trump refused to give an answer that was clear — then stating that he would only accept the results “if the election is fair and free.”

However, Trump mostly did what Republicans have pleaded with him to do: display some restraint in his speech as he exposed Biden’s flaws. Trump is known for calling Biden “sleepy” and “crooked” in every way He waited for 20 minutes to bring attention to Biden’s initial shaky performance.

“I really don’t know what he said at the end of that sentence,” Trump declared after Biden struggled to find the reply to a query on immigration. “I don’t think he knows what he said, either.”

And in a largely stale debate it was Biden who did not meet even the most basic of expectations.

“Biden seems to have needed a few minutes to warm up,” said a veteran Democratic campaigner. “Poor man needs a cup of tea. Perhaps a whisky.” Another suggestion was that Biden use an oral lozenge.

Both Biden as well as Trump who is three years older that the current president, were confronted with issues at the conclusion of the debate on their suitability for the remaining four years in the White House.

Biden who was coughing, called on voters to evaluate his ability by his past performance in the past, describing Trump in the same breath as “three years younger and a lot less competent.”

“Look at the records. Take a look at what I’ve done,” he said, using a line that he’s commonly used on campaign trails.

Trump presented his own incoherent argument to prove his ability and claimed to have “aced” a pair of cognitive tests. He also cited the golf tournament championships he’s taken on his own course as proof of his physical endurance.

The debate quickly turned into a contest of one-upmanship -the game quickly turned into a contest of one-upmanship – “I’m happy to play golf if you carry your own bag,” Biden claimed back at a point. However, by the time it was over most viewers’ views were probably long-held.

Fergus Cullen, a former New Hampshire GOP chair and “Never Trumper” who is thinking about going for Biden has been warning that Democrats might need to reconsider their vote should the president deliver poor results on Thursday.

Following this debate Cullen stated: “Anyone who has watched a parent grow old, frail, and foggy recognizes what they are seeing and knows it only gets worse, at an accelerating rate, from here.”