Stabenow, who works with Biden often and campaigns with him regularly, said Friday the president's debate performance was a surprise as she had “not seen before the Joe Biden that was on the stage last night.”

“He was battling a sore throat and got a slow start. I appreciate people’s concerns. I’m a strong Joe Biden supporter, that doesn’t change for me,” Stabenow told The Detroit News. “I’m absolutely confident in his decision-making abilities and cognitive skills. You know, it was not his best night, for sure.”

Stabenow recalled when then-Democratic President Barack Obama in his first 2012 debate against Republican Mitt Romney had a poor performance but came back “stronger than ever” in other debates.

“It was a blip on the radar screen,” Stabenow said.

'Hearing it die down'

Stabenow said folks who are wringing their hands and urging Biden to step aside as nominee need to pause and give everything a chance to settle.

“I am hearing it die down,” Stabenow said Friday afternoon, noting that the logistics of switching the nominee would be difficult at this stage.

Under Democratic National Committee rules, Biden would have to withdraw from the race for the delegates he already won in the primaries to be released from casting their ballots for him at the national convention in seven weeks.

“It would be very challenging and probably a messy process," Stabenow said. "I think we have somebody who has done exactly what we said we wanted ― invest in America, grow the middle class, take on the drug companies and put people first. To me, there’s no question that’s the person we should stick with.”

However, Adrian Hemond, a Democrat and political consultant based in Michigan, said there seemed to be two schools of thought among Democrats after the debate: "utter panic" and "cope."

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