"Democrats in full-blown panic after debate performance."
Democrats are in a full-blown panic if they do long division and get a remainder left over. "Full-blown panic" means very little in the Democratic party.
the amount of pants-shitting after a poor performance, which was clearly due to him having a cold* is remarkable, even by Dem standards.
*His campaign staff, on the other hand, should've made it clear, 4-5 days before the debate, no one sees him w/out masking.