'We can't catch a break.' How the Biden crisis looks from the inside

Hit by a rolling series of punches — the turmoil after President Biden's disastrous debate, the drip-drip-drip of damaging leaks from congressional allies, and now a campaign-stalling case of COVID — people who work inside the Biden campaign are discouraged and uncertain about what lies ahead.

"We can't catch a break,” a Biden adviser said, speaking on condition of anonymity to frankly describe private conversations.

Ever since Biden faltered in his debate three weeks ago against former President Donald Trump, the bad news just keeps coming — much of it from unnamed sources who are supposed to be allies of their team, the adviser said.

Not enough momentum 'to get us back on solid footing'

While there have been some positive moments for the president since the debate, “They haven't been enough to get us back on solid footing," the adviser said.

Biden had been gaining a bit of a momentum, giving energetic rallies in three "Blue Wall" states, culminating in a fired-up retooled stump speech in Detroit on Friday, where supporters chanted, "Don't you quit!"

But Biden's private meetings with top congressional leaders last week were sobering, and then there were the leaks from gatherings with rank-and-file Democratic lawmakers worried that Biden’s political woes will be toxic for their own races.

"In moments of crisis, you really get to know a lot about people," the adviser said.

Biden, a long-time senator, is pragmatic about the political calculations that lawmakers are making, the adviser said.

But the president bristled in one meeting last weekend when Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., suggested, in a respectful tone, that Americans were losing sleep because they were worried about the national security risks associated with an aging president.

Biden replied: "'Listen: if you have to come out against me, do whatever you need to do. But don't you dare say that Americans don't feel safe because of this,’" the adviser recounted.

This adviser said Biden showed no signs during that meeting and others of any cracks in his resolve to stay in the race — and said it’s not yet clear whether the pile-up of woes has reached a tipping point for the president.

In a July 6 letter, obtained by NPR on Thursday, Rep. Jamie Raskin recounted Biden's achievements, and used a metaphor about a 2003 baseball loss faced by Red Sox pitcher Pedro Martinez when he stayed in the game too long.

“There is no shame in taking a well-deserved bow to the overflowing appreciation of the crowd when your arm is tired out, and there is real danger for the team in ignoring the statistics," Raskin warned.

'What campaign team is going to rise from the ashes?'

Perhaps there is still a way for Democrats to unite behind a concise message, and Biden, the adviser said. But now, even Democrats who back Biden find themselves parsing his speeches and interviews for trips and flubs. His trademark gaffes are now are seen in a new light.

But if Biden drops out, that opens the door to a compressed “Hunger Games” race within the party for choosing a new leader, the adviser said. There's little time, and will be little organization.

While the adviser sees strong future candidates on the Democratic bench, they have not been battle-tested. The adviser noted that some of the best and brightest Republican prospects fell flat when they went against Trump.

"What campaign team is going to rise from the ashes?" the adviser asked.

“It's gonna be ugly. it's gonna be dirty. It's gonna be messy.”