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That must be nice for Joe. For most Democrats, however, a fresh batch of concerning polls and the primary elections are flashing red warning signs. So I asked my Post Opinions colleagues Eugene Robinson and Dana Milbank: Should Biden be worried about the primaries?

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Alexi McCammond: Okay, so, not to be a bummer, but I really want to know what you guys think about the state of the 2024 race. We’re basically in the general election already, and things are looking bleak for President Biden. I don’t see any other way to read what’s going on.

Eugene Robinson: I think the polls are saying that Donald Trump can win. Not necessarily that he will, but he can. That has to sink in with people.

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Dana Milbank: It is terribly nerve-racking! I have been under my bed for a week. Possibly longer. I can’t keep track of time down here.

Alexi: 😭 I really don’t know how Trump is leading by five points in the latest New York Times-Siena College poll, especially after all the increased attention to his legal troubles, his dictator-like rhetoric and his increasingly conservative plan for a second term.

Eugene: Never bet everything on one poll. The scarier thing is that the polling is so static and consistent.

Alexi: So why does it seem like Biden campaign/his supporters simply aren’t worried?

Dana: I also think everyone should be terrified, because, as Gene said, Trump could win. This must be a wake-up call to all those not yet wide-awake. On the other hand, there is no cause to panic — only to work harder to defeat Trump. I have the benefit of being married to a pollster, so I see how flawed these polls actually are. The “internals,” as they call them, are all screwed up. The New York Times poll, for example, shows Biden not winning women. There is no universe where that happens, even if Biden were to lose the presidency.

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A private pollster would weight the results to make the internals more closely reflect that actual electorate. Media polls don’t do that because they’d be accused of cooking the books. So they go with unweighted data, and it’s very screwy.

Alexi: That’s a fair point, Dana. Obviously, we have eight months until the election, but the Democratic coalition seems fractured further with each primary.

Eugene: Well, Nikki Haley has gotten a lot of votes. I don’t think the Dems are less unified than the GOP. The point is that it’s close. And the courts aren’t going to bail the Democrats out. They have to do that themselves.

Dana: Exactly. These polls should be motivating Democrats, not depressing them. The stakes are just too high. I think voters are equally dissatisfied with their likely nominees in both parties. But the general election essentially begins after this week. It’s no longer a question of Biden vs. some ideal Democratic nominee, but Biden vs. the apocalypse.

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Alexi: *existential dread now loading*

Eugene: Also vs. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Cornel West and Jill Stein. That could be important.

Dana: The constant nattering about Biden’s age and his perceived flaws is inane. Unless God or nature intervenes, he’s the nominee. Democrats ought to quit the fratricide and recognize that the alternative is much worse.

Alexi: Democrats have to do a lot between now and November to get folks moving. They are starting to send Cabinet officials and others around the country to spread the word about what the administration has accomplished.

Eugene: You know they’ve been sending them out there some........

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