Part of what I never understand is that people who believe, as I believe, that Donald Trump is an

existential threat to democracy don't look in the mirror and say, am I the best person to do this?

And maybe you don't get to their heights without looking in the mirror and having that answer always be yes.

But I would say no, if there's somebody better who can do this, who can win,

like let's talk about what that looks like. Hello everyone and welcome to the focus group podcast.

I'm Sarah Longwell, publisher of the Bullwork,

and this week we're going to have a hard conversation about

where the anti-Trump coalition goes from here because there is no sugarcoding it

friends Joe Biden's debate performance was really bad. It's been clear

to longtime listeners this podcast that voters are not convinced Biden is up to

being president until he's 86 years old and that was painfully on display in the debate and in our focus groups

afterward. However, these same voters who universally panned Biden's performance still believed Donald Trump was a liar and a narcissist and a psychopath.

Even though his debate performance was more quote unquote normal than usual,

Trump's manifest liabilities. normal than usual.

Trump's manifest liabilities make him eminently beatable. The question is whether Joe Biden is the best candidate to do that.

And democracy is too important and the threat

Trump poses too extreme to not have an honest conversation about how voters are

thinking about the election after last week's debate. So while I don't want this show to be a gratuitous

pile on, I do want us to honestly and unflinchingly consider the current landscape.

So to do this, I welcome back truth teller and my good friend Tim Miller,

host of the Daily Bullwork Podcast. Timmy, thanks for being here.

Hey Sarah, yeah, you know, being honest is tough.

...