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After weeks of uncertainty about who would be at the top of the Democratic Party\u2019s ticket in November, many voters expressed relief over the news that President\u00a0Joe Biden<\/a>\u00a0would drop his reelection bid and began to think about who might replace him in a dramatically altered election landscape.<\/p>\n Jerod Keene, a 40-year-old athletic trainer from swing-state Arizona, had planned to vote for Biden<\/a> in November but was thankful for the president\u2019s decision, calling it \u201cinevitable.\u201d Keene said he\u2019s excited about the next candidate, hoping it will be Vice President\u00a0Kamala Harris<\/a>, whom Biden endorsed on Sunday.<\/p>\n \u201cKamala Harris<\/a> is the easiest pick based on the fact that she\u2019s vice president and it would be tough for the party to try to go a different direction on that,\u201d said Keene, who lives in Tucson. \u201cAnd I think she seems ready.\u201d<\/p>\n The Democratic Party has been\u00a0deeply divided<\/a>\u00a0since Biden\u2019s\u00a0poor debate<\/a>\u00a0performance on June 27, which left many questioning his ability to defeat Republican Donald Trump in November and secure another term. Party leaders had increasingly called for Biden to step aside, but his reluctance to bow out left voters nationwide uncertain about who would face Trump in November.<\/p>\n Recent\u00a0AP-NORC polling<\/a>\u00a0revealed that nearly two-thirds of Democrats felt Biden should withdraw from the presidential race, while a\u00a0majority believe Harris<\/a>\u00a0would perform well in the top slot.<\/p>\n Keene\u2019s relief that the saga surrounding Biden\u2019s decision was over was echoed by voters nationwide in interviews with The Associated Press. In key swing states such as Wisconsin, Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Nevada, many expressed optimism about the party\u2019s next nominee \u2014 whether it be Harris or someone else.<\/p>\n In Pittsburgh, Fred Johnston said he has been terrified of another Trump presidency and had long worried that Biden couldn\u2019t beat Trump again. After seeing Biden\u2019s wobbly debate performance, he was eager for Biden to drop out and hand off his candidacy to Harris.<\/p>\n \u201cKamala is someone we can vote for, and that\u2019s what we need,\u201d Johnston said.<\/p>\n He also thinks she can win Pennsylvania: \u201cI have no logical basis for this, but it\u2019s good to have hope. I haven\u2019t had hope for a while.\u201d<\/p>\n In Las Vegas, Lucy Ouano, 68, said she was proud of both Biden\u2019s decision to drop out of the race and his move to quickly endorse Harris.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s ending on a great note,\u201d Ouano said. \u201cTrump should be worried. He\u2019s now running against someone strong.\u201d<\/p>\n Ouano, who emigrated in 1960 to the U.S. from Thailand as a young child with her parents, said she couldn\u2019t have imagined this outcome just a few weeks ago when she attended a Harris rally in Las Vegas meant to quiet concerns about Biden\u2019s reelection campaign.<\/p>\n At the time, she told the AP that while she planned on voting for Biden, she wanted Harris at the top of the ticket.<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s going to get the Asians drummed up, and she\u2019s going to get the women drummed up,\u201d Oaano said Sunday after learning about Biden\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n Similarly, Arthur L. Downard Jr., a 72-year-old resident of Portland, Oregon, viewed Biden\u2019s presidency favorably but said he was \u201cvery pleased\u201d that Biden stepped aside. The Democratic voter, who cast his ballot for Biden in 2020, said his opinion of Biden changed after what he called a \u201cdisastrous\u201d debate.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s been a great president and he\u2019s gotten a lot done for our country. But he\u2019s too old, he\u2019s not articulate,\u201d he said. \u201cHe\u2019s not a good messenger for the Democratic Party.\u201d<\/p>\n Some voters, like Nebraska resident Lacey LeGrand, had planned to reluctantly vote for Biden simply because he wasn\u2019t Trump.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m definitely not supporting Trump,\u201d LeGrand said. \u201cSo I think by default I was going to end up supporting Biden. I wasn\u2019t very happy about it.\u201d<\/p>\n LeGrand, a registered Democrat in Nebraska\u2019s Omaha swing district, a potentially decisive electoral vote that Biden and Obama both won previously, believes Harris \u201chas a shot\u201d at defeating Trump, though she added, \u201cI wouldn\u2019t say it\u2019s a great shot.\u201d<\/p>\n But not all voters were happy about Sunday\u2019s news. Georgia voter Dorothy Redhead, 76, was \u201cdisappointed\u201d that Biden dropped out of the race but said she is \u201cjust having to accept\u201d Biden\u2019s decision as one between the president and God.<\/p>\n Jarvia Haynes, a real estate agent in New Orleans, said she has \u201cmixed feelings\u201d about Biden\u2019s decision to leave the race.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think President Biden should have dropped out,\u201d she said. \u201cOn the other hand, maybe it\u2019s for the best.\u201d<\/p>\n Haynes, 72, of Harvey, Louisiana, a suburb of New Orleans, quickly focused on who should lead the Democratic ticket, saying she is \u201cvery positive about Vice President Kamala Harris being able to handle the job.\u201d<\/p>\n She added that she hopes Harris would choose Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to be her running mate.<\/p>\n \u201cI think two women would change the whole dynamic of the race,\u201d said Haynes, who joins Harris as a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., the first intercollegiate historically African American sorority. The group boasts more than 360,000 members in graduate and undergraduate chapters in 12 countries and could be a formidable political force of its own.<\/p>\n Barbara Orr, a psychotherapist in the Lancaster, Pennsylvania area, said she thought Biden was capable of running for president, beating Trump and serving as president. She viewed his decision to end his candidacy, however, as a sign that he is not guided by ego and recognized that, because of his debate performance, voters assume that he can\u2019t do the job.<\/p>\n Orr, 65, said she isn\u2019t \u201csuper impressed\u201d with Harris, \u201cbut she might rise to the occasion. That\u2019s happened before in history.\u201d<\/p>\n She also acknowledged that Harris hasn\u2019t had the chance to prove her mettle as a candidate against Trump.<\/p>\n Orr, a self-described progressive who favored Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders or Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren for president in 2020, said she would probably prefer Whitmer to replace Biden on the Democratic ticket.<\/p>\n \u201cI love what she stands for,\u201d Orr said.<\/p>\n Joe DeFrain was out kayaking when a text informed him that Biden had dropped out. While the Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan, resident said he wasn\u2019t stunned to learn of the development, one thing did surprise him.<\/p>\n \u201cI was waiting to see if all the boaters out there were going to be screaming with joy, because a lot of them are Trump fans. And I didn\u2019t hear anything,\u201d DeFrain said after sitting down for dinner at They Say, a restaurant in the Detroit suburb of Harper Woods.<\/p>\n Biden visited They Say earlier this year, a moment that manager George Ledbetter said was \u201cthe best ever.\u201d<\/p>\n Ledbetters\u2019 first reaction to the news came down to a single word: \u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s a good president. I like Biden,\u201d Ledbetter said. But, he added, \u201cYou gotta do what you gotta do.\u201d<\/p>\n Ledbetter said he\u2019ll support Harris despite his disappointment.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll take that, too. I think she can do it. First woman president. That\u2019d be nice. African American president. It\u2019d be nice again,\u201d said Ledbetter, who is Black.<\/p>\n As for DeFrain, he said he\u2019ll be watching to see what happens before and during the Democratic National Convention.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s going to be something we have never seen in our lifetime,\u201d said DeFrain, who has voted for Democrats in recent elections. \u201cIt should be entertaining.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n