President Joe Biden’s announcement on Sunday that he won’t seek another term in the White House flips the impetus for Democrats across the country to find a nominee the party believes can defeat former President Donald Trump.

Whoever the Democrats ultimately nominate at the party’s convention next month, whether it’s Vice President Kamala Harris or another prominent Democrat, winning Michigan will be paramount to any chance they have of winning the presidency.

In Michigan, some voters greeted Biden’s announcement with apparent relief, citing concerns about his age after a shaky debate performance in late June. Others, however, were prepared to stand by Biden if he sought another term.

Speaking at Eastern Market in Detroit, Debbie Sperry said the ages of both Biden, 81, and Trump, 78, were unappealing.

“It’s fine,” Sperry said, of Biden withdrawing from the race. “He’s old, so is Trump, we need to find some young blood.”

Sperry said a candidate “under 50” would be ideal.

Biden, 81, was already the oldest president ever elected after his 2020 win over Trump. Should Trump get elected this fall, he would be a year older at the start of his second term than Biden was in 2020.

Another four years in office for Biden seemed a daunting task, said Mary Leone, who commended the decision.

“I’m happy he did (drop out),” said Leone, of Grosse Ile. “I think he would not have made it four years, not with his age or his health. He’s doing it for the good of the Democratic Party and for his legacy.”

Other Democratic voters remained supportive of Biden. Metro Detroit resident Claudia Gostine acknowledged that a decision about whether Biden was going to run for president or drop out needed to be made but she said she’s “heartbroken” about how it happened.

“He’s dedicated so much of his and his family’s life to the country,” said Gostine, 69. “I honestly think he is the only one who has his finger on the pulse with the international players we’re up against.”

Shortly after announcing he wouldn’t seek reelection, Biden announced he was endorsing Harris for the Democratic nomination. Gostine said she’s concerned about how another candidate will fare against Trump in November and wants to see the Democratic Party unite behind one candidate.

“Kamala is up against sexism and racism and (Biden) was up against ageism, but that leaves us with fascism,” Gostine said.

Southwest Detroiter Theresa Landrum said she’s devastated primarily because of the disenchantment she has with the Democratic Party. 

“They should have galvanized around Biden. Biden is the best person right now at this time. I don’t think that we should be scrambling for another candidate. The best candidate at this point that could weather the storm is the Governor of California, Gavin Newsom.” 

Detroit resident James Martin said he was caught off guard by Biden’s announcement that he was dropping out of the race.

“I had to sit down,” Martin, 68, said. “I just thought he was going to go forward and stay strong despite all of the people calling for him to step out of the race.”

Once he took a minute to process the news, though, he said he was happy Biden was dropping out and that he endorsed Harris.

“I would have still supported him but I didn’t think he was going to win,” Martin said.

Eastsider Aaron Mayes called Sunday’s announcement “very unprecedented…. This is crazy.” 

Mayes added he’s worried because it’s so late in the game to introduce new candidates. 

“This may put the Democrats behind the 8-ball because of such a late date of him dropping out and not having a reasonable backup plan,” Mayes, a healthcare analyst said. “I know locally they’ve been trying out Whitmer. That’s the only one I would know. They didn’t prepare for this happening.” 

Several people spending Sunday afternoon at Shain Park in downtown Birmingham said they were not surprised by the president’s decision to drop out of the race. Some said it was for the best for the Democratic Party, but another said he wished Biden had remained in the race and considered him the best candidate to beat Trump. Several said they were praying for Biden, his health, and the future of the country as it heads into turbulent, and uncharted territory.

One wished Biden had endorsed Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer instead of Harris.

Englicia Reid, of Ypsilanti, said, “It was a good decision for President Biden to step down,” given his age and health issues.

Reid, who said she is an independent, said she hopes the country can weather “this whole ordeal.”

“We have to live together after the election is over. … I hope we can come together as Americans, that we can agree to disagree and to respect each other’s right to have our own opinions.”

Jay Jones, of New Haven, said the situation with the Democrats seemed “a little unethical.” He said Democrats had faith in Biden in 2020, “but they don’t have faith in him now.”

Harris, who said she intends to win the party’s nomination, enters the race just weeks before the Democratic National Convention in Chicago next month. It’s not immediately clear if another Democratic candidate would seek the party’s nomination, but there has been speculation that a slew of prominent Democrats could throw their hats into the ring — including Whitmer, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and others.

In west Michigan, Rockford resident Sue West said she would at least consider voting for Harris, but was mostly relieved Biden was withdrawing from the race.

“I’m not a supporter of either of the candidates we had yesterday, so that’s why I’m happy about it,” said West, 58. “I’d like to find somebody I would actually want to vote for.”

George Davis, 57,  of Southgate, said Biden made the decision looking forward to the future of American politics. Davis added he’s supporting Kamala Harris. 

“She’s ready for the next step in governance of our nation and she’s emblematic of Generation X politicians who are ready to stand for maintaining the fabric of our nation.” 

Dayna Busbee, of Southfield, said she was not surprised that Biden is getting out of the race, but disappointed that he waited so long to make his decision. Busbee said she was confident Biden could continue to be in office, but “I respect his decision.”

She said she would vote for Harris if she were the nominee, but questioned whether some voters who don’t want a woman as president could end up voting for Trump.

While Patrick Winston and Dijoi Harden were visiting Detroit for work, they happened to look at Instagram Sunday and see Biden had dropped out of the presidential race.

Winston, who is 33 and from Texas, was bummed about the news.

“My initial thought was ‘Dang … that sucks for him and the people that was believing in him to keep going,’“ Winston said. “Hopefully, he could have kept going and got another four years.”

Dijoi Harden said he would rather see someone else — not Trump or Biden — become president.

“I would rather just have something new,” Dijoi Harden, 27, from North Carolina, said.

Also at Eastern Market, Louis Campbell agreed with Sperry’s concerns about age, saying “they both need to go.” Sperry, Campbell and his wife, Erin Campbell, all said they believed Whitmer should be the party’s nominee.

Whitmer has previously been touted as a potential presidential candidate and reiterated support for Biden in the weeks following his debate performance. A spokesperson for Whitmer’s political action committee did not respond to questions from the Free Press about whether Whitmer would consider seeking the Democratic Party’s nomination for president or vice president.

More: Joe Biden drops out of 2024 race and endorses Kamala Harris: Live updates

Michigan Democrats react to Joe Biden dropping out of 2024 presidential race

Free Press staffers James Hill and Clara Hendrickson, and Special Writer Darren Nichols contributed.

Contact Arpan Lobo: alobo@freepress.com.

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