Can Democrats Find a Replacement for the US Presidential Election Candidate
The US president's performance at the opening debate was weak and hesitant at times — and this is after recent instances when Biden seemed to «freeze». Sleepy Joe's poor performance at the US presidential debate has caused alarm among Democrats, but could he be replaced against his will and how might that work?
The US National Party has never tried to force an election candidate to resign in the modern era, and their rules make it virtually impossible, the British channel Sky News notes in connection with the situation that has arisen in America.
The issue came before both major US parties in 2016, but neither took action and there is currently no known effort to force Biden to concede.
That would mean Democratic officials would overturn the results of the states' primaries — the votes that took place earlier this year that confirmed Biden as the overwhelming frontrunner in the November election.
As Sky News recalls, the 80-year-old politician won virtually all delegate votes, and now they must go through the usual procedure of confirming his candidacy at the Democratic National Convention on August 19.
There are ways to replace a candidate if he dies, resigns or becomes incapacitated, but ousting Biden would mean that delegates would choose another candidate.
This scenario seems extremely unlikely since they were chosen in the primaries because of their loyalty to the president and confidence that they would vote for him at the convention.
However, there is a potential «loophole» in that the Democrats rule allow them to «reflect in good conscience the sentiments of those who elected them.»
So if concerns about his performance and mental acuity reach critical levels, this could be a step forward.
What if Biden leaves on his own? This is the only possible scenario for the Democrats, which will allow them to choose a new candidate to confront Donald Trump, notes Sky News.
Biden has repeatedly rejected that option during other turbulent times, but if he changes his mind, he could simply sit out the remaining months of his presidency.
Such a turn would cause an uproar among Democrats, since neither he nor the party has a protocol for choosing a new nominee before the August convention.
Winning the presidential nomination requires a majority of the party's roughly 4,000 delegates, and Biden secured the support of about 3,900 of them in the primaries.
The US President will have some influence over his elected delegates, but ultimately they will be able to vote as they please, so it could become a «free-for-all» with candidates campaigning aggressively to win them over.
If the president decides to dissolve the party after the congress, the party chairman could call a special meeting of around 500 members, Sky News claims. In theory, they can choose a new candidate with a simple majority vote. But such a process would likely be much more tumultuous, with behind-the-scenes infighting and a public campaign.
If Biden pulls out even closer to the Nov. 5 election, it could raise constitutional, legal and practical problems. For example, ballot papers must be printed well in advance and it may not be possible to change them in time.
Would Vice President Kamala Harris replace Biden? If Biden were to immediately step down as president, Kamala Harris would automatically succeed him, but she would also not be the Democratic nominee.
She might gain a political advantage if he dropped his reelection bid, but Biden’s delegates would not automatically go to her, and it would be a level playing field with the other candidates.
Who might emerge as the front-runner if Biden backs down? The two front-runners — if they decide to run — could be California Gov. Gavin Newsom, 56, or Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, 52. They did not enter this year’s primaries to challenge Mr. Biden, but they have been talked about as potential Democratic candidates in the future. For now, at least, Newsom appears firmly in the president’s corner. After Thursday's debate, he told reporters that his party «couldn't be more united around Biden» and that the current US president should not step aside.