Biden's decision to drop out leaves Democrats across the country relieved and looking toward future

HARPER WOODS, Mich. (AP) — After weeks of uncertainty about who would be at the top of the Democratic Party’s ticket in November, many voters expressed relief over the news that President Joe Biden would drop his reelection bid and began to think about who might replace him in a dramatically altered election landscape.

Jerod Keene, a 40-year-old athletic trainer from swing-state Arizona, had planned to vote for Biden in November but was thankful for the president’s decision, calling it “inevitable.” Keene said he’s excited about the next candidate, hoping it will be Vice President Kamala Harris, whom Biden endorsed on Sunday.

“Kamala Harris is the easiest pick based on the fact that she’s vice president and it would be tough for the party to try to go a different direction on that,” said Keene, who lives in Tucson. “And I think she seems ready.”

The Democratic Party has been deeply divided since Biden’s poor debate performance 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.

Recent AP-NORC polling revealed that nearly two-thirds of Democrats felt Biden should withdraw from the presidential race, while a majority believe Harris would perform well in the top slot.

Keene’s relief that the saga surrounding Biden's 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’s next nominee — whether it be Harris or someone else.

In Pittsburgh, Fred Johnston said he has been terrified of another Trump presidency and had long worried that Biden couldn’t beat Trump again. After seeing Biden’s wobbly debate performance, he was eager for Biden to drop out and hand off his candidacy to Harris.

“Kamala is someone we can vote for, and that’s what we need,” Johnston said.

He also thinks she can win Pennsylvania: “I have no logical basis for this, but it’s good to have hope. I haven’t had hope for a while.”

In Las Vegas, Lucy Ouano, 68, said she was proud of both Biden’s decision to drop out of the race and his move to quickly endorse Harris.

“He’s ending on a great note,” Ouano said. “Trump should be worried. He’s now running against someone strong.”

Ouano, who emigrated in 1960 to the U.S. from Thailand as a young child with her parents, said she couldn’t have imagined this outcome just a few weeks ago when she attended a Harris rally in Las Vegas meant to quiet concerns about Biden’s reelection campaign.

At the time, she told the AP that while she planned on voting for Biden, she wanted Harris at the top of the ticket.

“She’s going to get the Asians drummed up, and she’s going to get the women drummed up,” Oaano said Sunday after learning about Biden’s decision.

Similarly, Arthur L. Downard Jr., a 72-year-old resident of Portland, Oregon, viewed Biden's presidency favorably but said he was "very pleased” 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 “disastrous” debate.

“He’s been a great president and he’s gotten a lot done for our country. But he’s too old, he’s not articulate,” he said. “He’s not a good messenger for the Democratic Party.”

Some voters, like Nebraska resident Lacey LeGrand, had planned to reluctantly vote for Biden simply because he wasn’t Trump.

“I’m definitely not supporting Trump,” LeGrand said. “So I think by default I was going to end up supporting Biden. I wasn’t very happy about it.”

LeGrand, a registered Democrat in Nebraska’s Omaha swing district, a potentially decisive electoral vote that Biden and Obama both won previously, believes Harris “has a shot” at defeating Trump, though she added, “I wouldn’t say it’s a great shot.”

But not all voters were happy about Sunday’s news. Georgia voter Dorothy Redhead, 76, was “disappointed” that Biden dropped out of the race but said she is “just having to accept” Biden’s decision as one between the president and God.

Jarvia Haynes, a real estate agent in New Orleans, said she has “mixed feelings” about Biden’s decision to leave the race.

“I don’t think President Biden should have dropped out,” she said. “On the other hand, maybe it’s for the best."

Haynes, 72, of Harvey, Louisiana, a suburb of New Orleans, quickly focused on who should lead the Democratic ticket, saying she is "very positive about Vice President Kamala Harris being able to handle the job.”

She added that she hopes Harris would choose Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to be her running mate.

“I think two women would change the whole dynamic of the race,” 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.

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’t do the job.

Orr, 65, said she isn’t “super impressed” with Harris, “but she might rise to the occasion. That’s happened before in history.”

She also acknowledged that Harris hasn’t had the chance to prove her mettle as a candidate against Trump.

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.

“I love what she stands for,” Orr said.

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’t stunned to learn of the development, one thing did surprise him.

“I 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’t hear anything,” DeFrain said after sitting down for dinner at They Say, a restaurant in the Detroit suburb of Harper Woods.

Biden visited They Say earlier this year, a moment that manager George Ledbetter said was “the best ever.”

Ledbetters' first reaction to the news came down to a single word: “Why?”

“He’s a good president. I like Biden,” Ledbetter said. But, he added, “You gotta do what you gotta do.”

Ledbetter said he’ll support Harris despite his disappointment.

“I’ll take that, too. I think she can do it. First woman president. That’d be nice. African American president. It’d be nice again,” said Ledbetter, who is Black.

As for DeFrain, he said he’ll be watching to see what happens before and during the Democratic National Convention.

“It’s going to be something we have never seen in our lifetime,” said DeFrain, who has voted for Democrats in recent elections. “It should be entertaining.”

Cappelletti reported from Grand Rapids, Michigan, Householder from Harper Woods, Michigan, and Kramon from Atlanta. Associated Press writers Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin; Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Rio Yamat in Las Vegas, Nevada, Chevel Johnson in New Orleans, Louisiana, Josh Funk in Omaha, Nebraska, and Claire Rush in Portland, Oregon contributed to this report.

Arthur Downard Jr., left, a 72-year-old resident of Portland, Ore., speaks to the Associated Press after President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 race for the White House on Sunday, July 21, 2024, in Portland, Ore. The Democratic voter, who cast his ballot for Biden in 2020, said his opinion of him changed after what he called a "disastrous" debate. "He's been a great president and he's gotten a lot done for our country. But he's too old, he's not articulate," he said. "He's not a good messenger for the Democratic Party." (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

Diners watch news of President Joe Biden dropping out of the 2024 race for the White House at They Say Restaurant in Harper Woods, Mich., Sunday, July 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

A man who asked not to be named holds balloons in support of President Joe Biden, as Tony Tribby, of Virginia, wears a t-shirt in support of Vice President Kamala Harris, while people gather, Sunday July 21, 2024, outside the White House in Washington. Biden dropped out of the 2024 race for the White House on Sunday, ending his bid for reelection following a disastrous debate with Donald Trump that raised doubts about his fitness for office just four months before the election. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

A t-shirt featuring Vice President Kamala Harris is on display next to a t-shirt with the Presidential seal, at the White House Gifts store, Sunday July 21, 2024, near the White House in Washington. She's already broken barriers, and now Harris could soon become the first Black woman to head a major party's presidential ticket after President Joe Biden's ended his reelection bid. The 59-year-old Harris was endorsed by Biden on Sunday, July 21, after he stepped aside amid widespread concerns about the viability of his candidacy.(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Anna Filipic, of Washington, holds her daughter Louisa Monje, 2, outside the White House in Washington, Sunday, July 21, 2024, as they show support for President Joe Biden. Biden dropped out of the 2024 race for the White House on Sunday, ending his bid for reelection following a disastrous debate with Donald Trump that raised doubts about his fitness for office just four months before the election. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Joe DeFrain watches news of President Joe Biden dropping out of the 2024 race for the White House at They Say Restaurant in Harper Woods, Mich., Sunday, July 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

George Ledbetter watches news of President Joe Biden dropping out of the 2024 race for the White House at They Say Restaurant in Harper Woods, Mich., Sunday, July 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Hugh Kieve, 10, of Washington, holds a sign outside the White House in Washington, Sunday, July 21, 2024, as he and his family come out to show support for President Joe Biden. Biden dropped out of the 2024 race for the White House on Sunday, ending his bid for reelection following a disastrous debate with Donald Trump that raised doubts about his fitness for office just four months before the election. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Boeing’s first astronaut mission ended Friday night with an empty capsule landing and two test pilots still in space, left behind until next year because NASA judged their return too risky.

Six hours after departing the International Space Station, Starliner parachuted into New Mexico’s White Sands Missile Range, descending on autopilot through the desert darkness.

It was an uneventful close to a drama that began with the June launch of Starliner’s long-delayed crew debut and quickly escalated into a dragged-out cliffhanger of a mission stricken by thruster failures and helium leaks. For months, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams’ return was in question as engineers struggled to understand the capsule’s problems.

Boeing insisted after extensive testing that Starliner was safe to bring the two home, but NASA disagreed and booked a flight with SpaceX instead. Their SpaceX ride won’t launch until the end of this month, which means they’ll be up there until February — more than eight months after blasting off on what should have been a quick trip.

Wilmore and Williams should have flown Starliner back to Earth by mid-June, a week after launching in it. But their ride to the space station was marred by the cascade of thruster trouble and helium loss, and NASA ultimately decided it was too risky to return them on Starliner.

So with fresh software updates, the fully automated capsule left with their empty seats and blue spacesuits along with some old station equipment.

“She’s on her way home,” Williams radioed as the white and blue-trimmed capsule undocked from the space station 260 miles (420 kilometers) over China and disappeared into the black void.

Starliner’s crew demo capped a journey filled with delays and setbacks. After the space shuttles retired more than a decade ago, NASA hired Boeing and SpaceX for orbital taxi service. Boeing ran into so many problems on its first test flight with no one aboard in 2019 that it had to repeat it. The 2022 do-over uncovered even more flaws and the repair bill topped $1 billion.

SpaceX’s crew ferry flight later this month will be its 10th for NASA since 2020. The Dragon capsule will launch on the half-year expedition with only two astronauts since two seats are reserved for Wilmore and Williams for the return leg.

As veteran astronauts and retired Navy captains, Wilmore and Williams anticipated hurdles on the test flight. They’ve kept busy in space, helping with repairs and experiments. The two are now full-time station crew members along with the seven others on board.

Even before the pair launched on June 5 from Cape Canaveral, Florida, Starliner’s propulsion system was leaking helium. The leak was small and thought to be isolated, but four more cropped up after liftoff. Then five thrusters failed. Although four of the thrusters were recovered, it gave NASA pause as to whether more malfunctions might hamper the capsule’s descent from orbit.

Boeing conducted numerous thruster tests in space and on the ground over the summer, and was convinced its spacecraft could safely bring the astronauts back. But NASA could not get comfortable with the thruster situation and went with SpaceX.

Flight controllers conducted more test firings of the capsule’s thrusters following undocking; one failed to ignite. Engineers suspect the more the thrusters are fired, the hotter they become, causing protective seals to swell and obstruct the flow of propellant. They won’t be able to examine any of the parts; the section holding the thrusters was ditched just before reentry.

NASA’s commercial crew program manager Steve Stich said earlier this week that teams have been so focused on Starliner’s return that they’ve had no time to think about what’s next for Boeing. He said the space agency remains committed to having two competing U.S. companies transporting astronauts.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

In this image from video provided by NASA, the empty Boeing Starliner capsule touches down at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico late Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, after undocking from the International Space Station. (NASA via AP)

In this image from video provided by NASA, the unmanned Boeing Starliner capsule undocks as it pulls away from the International Space Station on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024. (NASA via AP)

In this image from video provided by NASA, the unmanned Boeing Starliner capsule fires its thrusters as it pulls away from the International Space Station on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024. (NASA via AP)

In this photo provided by NASA, astronauts Butch Wilmore, left, and Suni Williams inspect safety hardware aboard the International Space Station on Aug. 9, 2024. (NASA via AP)