In the wake of President Joe Biden’s disastrous first debate performance, Democrats are openly contemplating the formerly unthinkable possibility of replacing him on the party’s ticket at the DNC convention later this year.
If Democrats are to elevate a new standard bearer, Biden would likely have to exit the stage voluntarily. But the oldest presidential candidate in modern American history, who already has 99 percent of the Democratic party’s nominating delegates, does not seem interested in withdrawing from the race.
While Biden’s roughly 4,000 delegates are not technically required to back him at the August convention, they are pledged to him — and Biden’s campaign played a role in selecting them, making it very unlikely that more than half of them would rebel against the incumbent, as would be required to oust Biden under the DNC’s convention rules.
But Biden himself could decline the party’s nomination, freeing up delegates to select another candidate. Though he has shown no indication that he will not accept the party’s nomination or drop out of the race before the convention, despite the urging of his erstwhile defenders in the media.
Several names have emerged among party insiders and pundits as possibly being able to fill the vacuum left by Biden, should he step aside. Vice President Kamala Harris is an obvious alternative, but her consistently dreadful polling makes her a very risky proposition. California governor Gavin Newsom’s name has also been floated; he would have no trouble in the fundraising department and has won plaudits as a slick defender of the party’s record while barnstorming the country stumping for Biden. Democratic governors Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, and J.B. Pritzker of Illinois might also make a run at winning delegates to their side.
If no candidate wins the nomination on the first roll call vote, Democratic “superdelegates” would be able to vote for the nominee. Superdelegates are a group of party insiders whose controversial role featured prominently in the 2016 Democratic primary between former secretary of state Hillary Clinton and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.
Complications brought on by Ohio’s ballot deadline caused Democrats to consider formally nominating Biden before the convention with a virtual roll-call vote. Ohio governor Mike DeWine (R.) signed a bill earlier this month to remove the complication to ensure Biden appears on the state’s ballot this upcoming November if he is the Democratic nominee.
Going into the debate, Democrats were hoping Biden could assuage widely held concerns about his age in front of a national audience. Now, Democrats and their allies in the media appear to be in full-blown panic mode about the possibility of moving forward with Biden’s reelection campaign against former president Donald Trump.