“To be completely honest, I feel good,” said Alex Wheat, an independent from Rochester who was on vacation in Saranac Lake when the news broke.

Wheat said he has “felt really bad” for Biden lately.

“It doesn’t seem like he’s all there mentally, and it’s kind of — I know just about everybody’s heard this — but it kind of feels like you’re watching your grandpa be somewhere he shouldn’t be when he should be under some sort of care.”

Biden’s departure from the race isn’t likely to change Wheat’s voting plans, he said, and he didn’t have any strong feeling about who should replace Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket.

Kathy Ford poses for a photo on Sunday afternoon after sharing her reaction to the news that President Joseph Biden would end his bid for reelection. (Enterprise photo — Galen Halasz)

“(There’s) nobody that comes to mind,” he said. “I feel like the left, as a whole, has become very extreme. A lot of my Democratic views that I hold are probably old-school Democratic views.”

Sitting outside Nori’s Village Market with a group of friends, Bonnie Ida, a Democrat who used to live in Malone but now resides in Florida, said she believes Biden is a “hero” for withdrawing from the race.

“I was listening to Ezra Klein’s podcast saying that if (Biden) would drop out, people would consider him a hero for doing so. I do,” she said. “(Biden is) doing what he thinks was best for the country, not about his own personal ambitions.”

She added that she hopes Biden will stick around in an advisory capacity for his successor on the ballot, and though she’s a fan of Vice President Kamala Harris, she hopes the Democratic party will have an open process for choosing its new nominee.

“Since (Biden) is not leaving until the end of his term, I think there has to be an open convention. He can recommend (Harris),” Ida said. “Hopefully, she’ll get it anyway.”

Thomas Owen poses for a photo on Sunday afternoon after sharing his reactions to the news that President Joseph Biden would end his bid for reelection. (Enterprise photo — Galen Halasz)

Ida’s friends, Carol Marie Vossler, a Democrat from Vermontville, and Noreen Sadue, a Democrat from Plattsburgh, both agreed with her about the nomination process.

“I think there should be an open convention,” Vossler said.

She added that, though she’s a registered Democrat, she’s open to voting for a Republican — just not former President Donald Trump.

“I would vote a Republican if it was a sane, moderate person — wasn’t a demagogue,” Vossler said.

Sadue said that, in the current political climate, party affiliation isn’t as important as what a candidate brings to the table in terms of policy and ideology.

Shawn LaRock poses for a photo on Sunday afternoon after sharing his reaction to President Joseph Biden ending his bid for reelection. (Enterprise photo — Galen Halasz)

“That has become less important to me, Democrat or Republican,” she said. “It’s the person.”

While waiting to cross Main Street, Kayla Harrington, a Democrat from Saranac Lake, said she was “very sad” that Biden withdrew from the presidential race. She also intends to support Harris.

“It hit me so hard when I saw it on Facebook,” she said. “I hope Kamala Harris — I hope she’ll run for president. I’ll definitely vote for her and support Democrats all the way.”

On the other side of the political spectrum, Jerry Manning, a Republican from Saranac Lake, also approved of Biden’s decision to withdraw from the race.

“I feel that’s good, that’s a good thing,” he said.

Kayla Harrington poses for a photo on Sunday afternoon after sharing her reaction to the news that President Joseph Biden would end his bid for reelection. (Enterprise photo — Galen Halasz)

He is not a fan of the Biden administration’s time in the White House, he added.

“I think (Biden) has done really bad for our country,” Manning said. “I think his administration has gone bad.”

Thomas Owen, a Republican from Saranac Lake, said he was “not really that surprised” at the news. Biden’s withdrawal from the race will not affect his vote.

“I’m going for Trump, anyway,” Owen said.

Others were unenthusiastic about Biden’s withdrawal.

“It’s unfair,” said Shawn LaRock of Saranac Lake. “They literally said he was going to be the nominee and every state elected him to be the nominee, and for him to just drop out — that kind of really isn’t democracy, right?”

Bill Kelting, an independent from Saranac Lake, said that Biden’s withdrawal was “very unfortunate.”

“But,” he added, “I could see it coming. He was not doing well.”

His biggest concern was how the race would shift in the coming weeks as Democrats put together a new ticket.

“I don’t know what our options will be coming up,” he said.