The president’s top strategists see only one way to get past his nightmarish debate performance.

Follow this authorKaren Tumulty's opinions

Public polling since the June 27 debate has shown little movement in the race, which perhaps indicates how deeply entrenched and immovable Democrats and Republicans are.

The Biden campaign’s internal numbers, I’m told, show that some slippage has occurred since the debate. It has been largely among what Biden strategists refer to as “engagement targets.” They include younger, non-White and female voters who were with Biden in 2020 but have been less enthusiastic this time around. The decline in their support since the debate has been within the margin of error, officials say, and there is no sign yet that they are moving toward Trump.

Advertisement

These voters are also less likely than intense and attentive partisans to have actually watched the entire debate, which means most of their perceptions of what happened there are coming from news accounts and clips on social media.

But there is also a silver lining for Biden — or perhaps, given the fragility of the current moment, it would be more accurate to call it a foil one. The debate has put many of the president’s grass-roots supporters on high alert. The campaign says $38 million poured into its coffers between the Thursday night of the debate and the following Sunday, and legions of new volunteers are signing up.

What that shows is that his most ardent supporters believe Biden deserves an opportunity to make the case that what Americans saw on the debate stage in Atlanta was an aberration.

Advertisement

What the campaign now must do is redirect the focus that has been almost entirely on their candidate ever since. “This election is about Trump. It’s our job to make that case,” said a senior adviser.

Hence, you hear them talking constantly lately about Project 2025, an initiative overseen by right-wing Trump allies and the conservative Heritage Foundation that details a policy blueprint for the next Republican president.

Major media organizations, including The Post, have been reporting since last year about the radical proposals, such as militarized mass deportations, sharp limits on abortion and handing the White House greater influence over the Justice Department. But the political resonance of Project 2025, which gives substance to Trump’s........

© Washington Post