U.S. President Joe Biden’s debate performance was deeply unsettling. Democrats nevertheless need to calm down, take a deep breath and figure out what matters. Biden is the same man he was before Thursday night’s debacle: solid on policy but short on style.

The president has never been a slick debater and a lifelong stutter has burdened him with a halting speaking style that makes him prone to repeating sentences and phrases. Age has also taken its toll — as Biden himself admits. But there is ample evidence that he has been doing the heavy lifting day in and day out in one of the toughest jobs in the world and logging campaign miles and events at an impressive rate.

Americans have a serious choice ahead of them. Will they be swayed by a charlatan carnival barker hawking lies? Or will they look beyond to the man who speaks truth and facts, albeit in a whisper?