The deliberations illustrate how the highest ranks of the Republican Party are grappling with the uncertainty the coronavirus crisis has injected into the race — and how best to prepare for a general election that looks nothing like what they'd been anticipating.

There are indications that Trump’s response to the crisis is taking a toll. His campaign’s internal polling shows that the president’s initial bump in managing the virus has dissipated, according to a person familiar with the results. An NBC/Wall Street Journal poll released over the weekend revealed that voters thought Biden would do a better job than Trump in managing the virus by a 9-point margin, and new surveys show Trump trailing Biden in Florida, Michigan and Pennsylvania.

Alarm about Trump’s standing is trickling to down-ballot races. A Fox News poll released earlier this week showed the GOP candidate trailing 10 percentage points in the Michigan Senate race, a contest the party has been targeting aggressively.

“Historically, it is important for the president to be competitive in battleground states not just for his own race, but to enable an environment that is strong enough for statewide and down-ballot candidates to have the footing they need to run successful campaigns," said Nick Everhart, a veteran Republican strategist.

The voter outreach has become a singular focus of the RNC over the past month. Reading from prepared scripts in phone calls, party officials and volunteers have highlighted Trump’s decision to ban travel from China and his work with Democrats on the crisis. They have also left voicemails from Lara Trump, the president’s daughter-in-law. Using the party’s massive data machine, Republicans are targeting the battleground voters seen as most likely to be swayed and likely to decide the election.

The committee has also begun a seven-figure digital advertising blitz spotlighting praise for the president from Democratic governors Gavin Newsom of California and Andrew Cuomo of New York. Rarely has the committee spent so heavily on ads so early in an election year.

White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, Trump’s 2016 campaign manager, has also advocated for playing up Trump's accomplishments in responding to the crisis. She opposed the reelection campaign’s idea to wage a TV advertising offensive against Biden on China.

Others say there’s little public appetite in a slash-and-burn campaign at a time when Americans are suffering. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a Trump adviser and ally, said the president should wait until the late August convention to begin a full-fledged campaign and instead focus on dealing with the crisis.

Dealing with it effectively, he contended, would virtually cement Trump's reelection.

“His best strategy is to follow FDR’s example and be Dr. Defeat the Virus and then Dr. Create Jobs and Prosperity,” Gingrich said.

Yet campaign officials see reason to begin nuking Biden, especially as the former vice president ramps up his attacks. Liberal outside groups have spent millions of dollars on TV ads in battleground states going after Trump. The former vice president’s campaign, meanwhile, recently released a web video charging that Trump left the country “unprepared and unprotected” — a spot that even some Republicans acknowledged was effective.