evidence: WASHINGTON (AP) — As the formulaic "pass the torch" drumbeat thumped on from lawmakers wanting him to quit the race, President Joe Biden maintained a brave face. Publicly, he vowed he was all in, until the day he got out. [...] Two days before the Fourth of July, Texas Democrat Rep. Lloyd Doggett, 77, became the first Democrat to call for Biden to withdraw from the race. A long-serving, but low-key member, Doggett did not prompt a mass move from the Democratic caucus, but it was also a telltale sign of the rippling crisis. [...] In similar fashion earlier, Biden displayed a mastery of policy, despite some gaffes, in an hourlong news conference following a NATO summit in Washington, prompting some loyalists to say, in effect — See? He’s fine. Immediately afterward, Connecticut Rep. Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House intelligence committee, posted on X that Biden should end his campaign. Several others did as well.