'A course correct': How Biden resets his campaign since he's likely not going anywhere

CNN announced that the debate averaged 51.3 million television viewers Thursday. The data do not include online viewing.

"I am very fond of 'Joey Biden.' But I believe he may well have done himself and those of us who understand what an effective president he has been existential damage," said Joey Kaempfer, a real estate developer who has donated heavily to Democrats through the years. He has given close to $1 million to groups supporting Biden's reelection and has dined with the president.

"We must be patient and see how the next week or two shakes out," he said. "But yes, I am very concerned."

At a rally Friday in North Carolina, Biden appeared to heed some of this advice, particularly from those who said he needed to more fulsomely address the fact that he'd be the oldest president in history by the end of his second term. He delivered his points with more gusto and clarity than the night before and sounded more cogent.

Biden continued to attack the lies and lack of empathy Trump espoused at the debate — pointing to his comments on abortion, immigration and respecting democracy — and contrasting them with the accomplishments of his administration's first term. He also addressed his age.

"I know I'm not a young man, to state the obvious," Biden said Friday. "I don't walk as easy as I used to. I don't speak as smoothly. I don't debate as well as I used to. But I know what I do know. I know how to tell the truth. I know right from wrong, and I know how to do this job.

"I know, like millions of Americans know," he said, "when you get knocked down, you get back up."

Biden at one point trumpeted his relationships with every world leader, "because I've been around, as you kind [of] have noticed," which prompted laughs from the crowd. Exuding energy and not being defensive appeared to endear him to the supporters, and would it put him on a good path forward after the disastrous debate.

"Even with a great speech today — which I think is a good start — he needs many, many, of those, and he needs many many surrogates in the course of this," former Republican strategist Matthew Dowd said on MSNBC.

There are 75 days until the next debate, he added, which means it will be a long time before many people tune into politics again. That's a problem for Biden, Dowd said.

As if to address concerns about his stamina, Biden also attended two events Friday in New York City. The Associated Press reported that he joined Elton John in inaugurating a visitor center at the Stonewall National Monument, then attended a Pride Month fundraiser.

This was one of the earliest presidential debates in recent political history. Many analysts said it would focus voters' attention on the race earlier and offer Biden a chance to shake up the trajectory.

Analysts had theorized that the Biden campaign also wanted an early debate because it would give him more time to repair any damage from a poor outing. That will now be put to the test.

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(L.A. Times staff writers Seema Mehta and Noah Bierman contributed to this report.)

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