Joe Biden faces increasing pressure to quit the race, but has spent a lifetime overcoming the odds

WASHINGTON (AP) — To borrow a favorite phrase from the man himself, President Joe Biden is at an inflection point.

Is his on-the-ropes reelection campaign about public service or his ego? About securing his legacy or shaping the future? Such opposing forces of American politics have been clashing with each other since his awful debate with Donald Trump.

Biden now is weighing whether to bow to the mounting pressure to step aside. His decision will be based not just on this moment but on his long history in public life and the extraordinary personal struggles he has endured since the dawn of his political career.

His party’s swelling crisis of confidence in Biden’s capacity to beat Trump is confronting his legendary self-assuredness. The next days will prove to be critical.

On Friday, his campaign acknowledged “slippage” in his support but insisted he's in the race to stay and will defeat Trump.

In the three weeks since the debate, Biden has banked on inertia and the fear of the unknown — and there are a lot of unknowns — to stem the panic in his party. But Democrats are increasingly seeking to push him out because of what they believe they do know: Biden is currently trailing Trump and threatens to bring them all down with him.

First with private signals, and now with coordinated leaks, some of the most influential Democrats in the country — among them Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer — let it be known they had doubts about Biden’s viability. Some told him so directly. All let it be known publicly. The polls — not great before the debate — are worse.

It suddenly looks like the walls are closing in.

The inflection point

Biden’s orbit, already shrinking, has grown smaller in recent days. He’s down to a few...