The Biden campaign’s theory of the presidential race before the June 27 debate may not have been bulletproof, but it was plausible. Now the Biden team is in a defensive crouch—trying to fend off the media, donors, Democratic elected officials, and ultimately voters in an effort to buy time to salvage Biden’s candidacy. The problem is that the Biden campaign’s theory of the race eight days ago was that the debate would drive a drastic change, one that would put the president on top.