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(Bloomberg) — Joe Biden’s party is gripped in turmoil about whether to force the 81-year-old president aside. Republicans have a clear view: it doesn’t really matter.

The battle that has consumed Democratic circles since last month’s calamitous debate between Biden and Donald Trump is delighting delegates at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee this week, with people saying they don’t think their rivals’ momentous decision will alter the race much.

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Some say it doesn’t matter at all whether Democrats swap out Biden, while others say the party might actually be worse off. One thing is clear: the incumbent president is seen as no threat to Trump, and Republicans are confident Democrats don’t have options to recapture momentum in the race. 

“I like it right where they are — stuck, divided, fighting, while we are united,” said Ed Cox, chairman of the New York Republican Party. “There’s no way they can push him out, but they’ve already started momentum going that way so they’ve got real problems.”

Biden has repeatedly said he won’t step aside, but it hasn’t quelled doubts within his party. This week has brought a flurry of reports that key Democratic figures had delivered private warnings to Biden that he should seriously weigh stepping aside. A senior Biden aide said he’s intent on running, while other allies said the chances that he’d step aside have risen. 

Earlier: Biden Faces Mounting Speculation, Pressure to Drop Bid

Meanwhile, Republicans have been buoyed by a steady stream of polling, showing Trump ahead of Biden on key issues for the November election — namely the economy because of the president’s early term struggles with inflation. That’s despite the cost of living showing signs of abating and low unemployment. 

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Democrats Delay

The Democratic National Committee said Wednesday it won’t begin a roll call vote to officially anoint Biden the nominee until at least Aug. 1, a delay that nods to the brewing outcry that the party might try to speed up Biden’s nomination to head off calls for an open convention in August. 

But, at their own gathering, Republicans showed no concern that a new ticket might breathe life into Democrats’ flagging campaign.

Trump is “going to beat either one of them, hands down, it makes no difference,” said Debbie Sachs Alvis, an Alabama Republican delegate, said of both Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. 

“Both of them are equally horrible so it wouldn’t really matter, respectfully,” Georgia delegate Bruce LeVell said.

Larry Elder, who briefly ran for president in the Republican primary, said it “doesn’t matter” if it’s Biden or Harris, but that it would be one of those two. 

“You step over Kamala Harris, you’re stepping over Black female voters and they will be livid,” he said. “So they’re stuck with either Biden or Harris.”

Republican pollster Tony Fabrizio said Republicans benefit from the turmoil.

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“If it isn’t President Biden, the notion that they are going to pass over Kamala Harris, and give it to some unknown candidate, I think is fanciful,” he said, speaking at an event hosted by the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics on the sidelines of the GOP convention.

He said Republicans are prepared to pivot if Harris becomes the nominee, and that polls show the public has relatively low awareness of her record. “We’re ready to define her,” he said.

Age Comparison

Still, removing Biden from the ballot presents a few potential upsides for Democrats. Any replacement, including Harris or other possibilities — such as Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer or California Governor Gavin Newsom — would be decades younger than Biden, striking a contrast with the 78-year-old Trump. 

Quickly picking a new nominee would allow Democrats to move past the all-consuming intra-party battle that’s persisted for weeks. Instead, they could expend energy on campaigning against Trump and policy ideas from his allies — including plans to reshape the government workforce and restrict abortion access. 

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But a swap may also prove complicated. For instance, the fine print of changing at this late stage raises questions about whether there’s time to get a new nominee on ballots in key states.

Republicans have seized on a key Democratic attack line — that this election is about preserving democracy — to criticize the party establishment for now weighing whether to force out a nominee who won the primary, albeit a virtually uncontested one. 

“I think for democracy itself, he has to stay on the ticket,” former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said this week in an interview on the convention floor. “If they think democracy is important, they should have made this decision a year ago.”

—With assistance from Julie Fine and Billy House.

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