That was my favorite moment, next to the stuff in the Oval with the families and seeing him and Harris together on the tarmac awaiting the hostages. "There's no way out!"
I do think Joe remains very effective and competent in office, and Kamala would be wise to keep him close for counsel especially for international diplomacy in times that hopefully will come. In terms of campaigning, energy and momentum though I think the switch has been a total reset, in a good way. I think it's clear Joe is still very effective at one thing (governing) and perhaps less so at the other at present (campaigning). It does seem like there is a considerable weight off him now, though. Whether we can chalk that all up to media disdain or vibes, it's what has happened. I think it's shameful what happened and how it was done, but I can't pretend I'm not glad we are where we are this week.
And I don't blame Joe for this but I frankly don't think Biden's team under him was doing enough to work the refs or change the narrative before the switch. The media was profoundly contemptuous of Joe, but at the same time his team had often been stuck in a defensive crouch and hoping for 'the right people to get it' for months if not years re: messaging on what he'd done. We were not going to win this election on loyal inertia alone, or at least I didn't want to bet on it. A lot of the same comms people came over to Harris but were (as reported) schooled on how to reapproach things, and so the tone, the energy and the aggression is different, because the mentality and deference to the old ways - which no longer work in Washington - is not the same.
Speaking of, Republican-leaning Amy Walter (who continues to speculate/hope that Trump can win if this election is about 'the issues', like immigration) reluctantly tweeted this data: