Within hours of President Joe Biden announcing that he is dropping his reelection bid, Arizonans at Tempe Marketplace shared their reactions.
All six people interviewed said Biden made the right decision to step aside, but opinions were mixed on whether Vice President Kamala Harris can win over the GOP's nominee, former President Donald Trump.
Phoenix resident and Democrat Victor Espinoza says, now that Biden has endorsed Harris as successor, he's more inclined to vote.
"I wasn’t really sure if President Biden should run as a president, so I’m kind of going back and forth," Espinoza said. "But now with Kamala being the frontrunner, I think that uncertainty that I had, it’s kind of revitalized my thinking about the Democrat party."
Democrat Allison Rimmer, of Tempe, says she prefers Harris to Biden and wants someone "younger" and "more present in the White House." But she worries about the vice president's electability.
"I feel like she will win less Republican votes," Rimmer said. "With Democrats I think she’s fine. With Republicans, I feel like she’s going to be less electable to them than he (Trump) will, which I find sad."
Sophia Anderson of Phoenix agreed on the age issue. With the 81-year-old Biden abandoning his campaign, the oldest presidential candidate is now Trump, who is 78. Harris, meanwhile, is 59 years old.
"I love Kamala Harris. I'm down for that; I’ll vote Democrat," Anderson said. "But f—k Trump. We need to get younger people. Younger people, please."
Sherrie Carter, a registered Democrat from Goodyear, said she supports Biden renouncing his reelection campaign but will miss his leadership.
"I do think he’s had a positive influence on our economy, particularly our roads and our environment, which I think a lot of presidents choose not to focus on," Carter said.
Although Biden has endorsed Harris, she is not officially the Democratic nominee for president. Those details have yet to be worked out.
The Democratic National Convention is next month in Chicago.
"I think the idea of an open convention also sounds exciting," said Joe Benson, a Democrat from Tempe. "I don’t think it sounds like chaos to me. It just sounds like something we haven’t done in a while, and so I’d be curious to see that route, too. But if it's the vice president, she has my support."
