Will Democrats replace Biden? Whitmer and Shapiro are strong options to beat Trump.

With the worst debate performance in the history of presidential elections, Joe Biden has ignited a fast moving discussion: Can he be replaced? Is there still time to pick someone, get them introduced to the public and on the ballot? Who should step in?

Some Democrats seem to think they are stuck with Biden. If they replace him now, it will look like the Republicans were right all along, and the Democrats were lying to the American people about Biden’s competence.

Those concerns are real, and valid. There will be a cost to pushing Biden aside. It will take a lot of advertising to introduce a new candidate. And there’s a risk, as there always is, that a new person will implode because of a previously undetected scandal, or a meltdown at their first news conference or debate.

But replacing Biden is worth the risk, and some of us thought that before he got beaten like a middle school wrestler taking on Conor McGregor.

Elections aren’t really about ideas and issues. They are usually about gut feelings and emotions. Issues matter because they move blocs of voters emotionally, and because the right candidate can take an idea and use it to portray herself heroically or sympathetically.

To beat Trump, Biden must drop out: How can Biden save America from Trump's return to the White House? Drop out of the race.

No one is excited about voting for Biden

And a new candidate will give Democrats something they’ve been missing since 2016, or maybe 2012: excitement.

Biden in 2020 had almost no one personally excited about him beyond his immediate family and talented staff.

Biden won because enough Americans were disgusted, scared or otherwise done with Donald Trump. These were anti-Trump votes that pushed Biden into the White House in a close election.

Who won the debate? Biden has no business running for president. The debate proved it.

There’s still a lot of anti-Trump votes, because Trump is a uniquely awful figure in American presidential history. He’s got the attention span of a fruit fly, the emotional stability of a cranky toddler, the ethics of a mobster, the narcissism of a supermodel, the honesty of North Korea’s press agency and the foreign policy knowledge of a fry cook.

He’s a convicted felon who has also been found guilty of fraud in civil cases and of sexual assault. Worst of all, he risked destroying the republic to try to stay in office after he lost the 2020 election.

There are many reasons to vote for anyone if it could keep Trump out of power.

Democratic governors offer good alternatives to Biden

But with Michigan's Gretchen Whitmer or Pennsylvania's Josh Shapiro, two swing-state Democratic governors, or any of a dozen or so other younger Democrats as the presidential nominee, Democrats would have a candidate to be FOR.

And that matters.

Having a positive reason will make the ground game of the Democrats more powerful. Millions of Republicans are thrilled about Trump’s candidacy, and only a new face will allow Democrats to match or surpass that intensity.

Instead of telling their non-political friends, neighbors and colleagues all the reasons why Trump is so awful that they have to vote for a doddering old man with the charisma of cottage cheese and the mental quickness of a turnip, Democrats could be out there telling them how great their candidate is.

And that excitement will be contagious, particularly to the small group of undecided voters in the seven swing states that will decide this contest.

Whitmer and Shapiro also would be firsts: our first woman president or our first Jewish president. That’s going to matter in a close election, because firsts always involve increased excitement.

Indeed, the speed with which a new candidate will go from national unknown to a name that everyone knows will contribute to the excitement.

Opinion alerts: Get columns from your favorite columnists + expert analysis on top issues, delivered straight to your device through the USA TODAY app. Don't have the app? Download it for free from your app store.

It’s not too late to pick someone new − just the opposite − new is a feature, not a bug. Our modern media culture makes new faces familiar faster than any civilization in history. No one knew the Hawk Tuah girl two weeks ago (Google it, boomer). Now everyone under 40 does.

So Democrats have a choice − lose with Biden or give the voters someone to vote for, someone to admire, someone to be excited about.

Jeremy Mayer is an associate professor in the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University, where he also directs the master's and Ph.D. programs in political science.

You can read diverse opinions from our USA TODAY columnists and other writers on the Opinion front page, on X, formerly Twitter, @usatodayopinion and in our Opinion newsletter.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Who can replace Biden? Democrats have good options to beat Trump