A Divided America Agrees: We Deserve Better Than This

The Run-Up

The latest national poll from The New York Times and Siena College shows former President Donald J. Trump leading President Biden by nine percentage points among registered voters — a pretty big shift in his direction in the week since the presidential debate.

It has become clear in the past week that there is no obvious path to replacing Mr. Biden as the Democratic Party’s nominee. But there is a strong desire among Americans for something different.

We heard that directly from voters we met last week in Kenosha, Wis., at a gathering of a group called Braver Angels. It’s a nonpartisan organization that finds common ground across political divisions, and it proved a perfect focus group after the debate.

We asked these deeply engaged citizens, who had chosen to spend their free time debating policy and politics, how they were feeling about their options for president in November.

Their perspective reinforced the gap that this unique political moment has exposed between voters and party leaders.

The questions are: Has Mr. Biden’s debate performance made the continuation of his campaign untenable? And what, if anything, should happen next?

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