The results of the debate have created panic in the democratsto the point that his party is beginning to question whether he should be replaced on the ballot before the November elections in the United States.
The verdict was unanimous and condemnatory. It was a “political disaster” that caused “consternation” within the party ranks with just over four months to go before the elections.
And the president’s confrontation on Thursday night with former President Trump should have been an opportunity for Biden to dispel doubts about his advanced age and fitness for office, and to publicly portray his rival as an “existential threat.” “for American democracy, the campaign argument used by Democrats in an attempt to raise the image and low popularity of the Democratic candidate.
But his speech was hesitant. On several occasions he got stuck and seemed to lose track of his ideas. As a result, some Democrats are considering behind the scenes whether he should remain the party’s candidate, which he has until August to decide.
Throughout 90 minutes, Biden barely tried to counter the bombastic style of Trump, who was energetic and forceful. The moderators of CNN, the network that organized the debate, helped a sometimes confused Biden and passed the floor to Trump, even though Biden had not finished within the time established for each response.
Biden was seen on screen staring, mouth open, as Trump spoke.
There is no evidence that Biden is willing to end his campaign. And it would be nearly impossible for Democrats to replace him unless he chooses to step down.
This scenario, currently highly unlikely, would plunge the Democratic Party into a period of great uncertainty.
Because?
Joe Biden, the oldest sitting US president, missed a unique opportunity to reassure millions of voters about his fitness and health during the first debate of the campaign.
On stage, the Democratic leader often seemed confused, left sentences unfinished and got stuck.
“He had a very bad night. The question now is whether that will disqualify him for the next four years,” Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen said Friday. “That will have to be determined.”
Joe Biden often says he is the candidate most capable of defeating Donald Trump, even though polls show his age is turning off voters.
“I don’t walk as easily as I used to, I don’t speak as fluently as I used to, I don’t debate as well as I used to,” but “I can do this job,” Biden said at a rally in North Carolina (east).
The leader received strong support from Barack Obama, who remains one of the most respected voices in the Democratic Party. “Bad debate nights happen,” he said.
As?
If Joe Biden decided to throw in the towel, the process to replace him would be a bit technical.
The president has already been named the Democratic presidential candidate in a series of primaries held between January and June.
Democratic rules say delegates Biden won should back him at the party’s next national convention unless he tells them he’s dropping out of the race.
Therefore in theory he should be enthroned at the party convention in Chicago.
If Joe Biden were to drop out of the race before this convention, scheduled for mid-August, the final say would fall to the party delegates, 3,900 people with very varied profiles. Most of them are unknown to the public.
It would then be a “convention in which anything goes,” as each side would try to push its candidate, predicts Elaine Kamarck, a researcher at the Brookings Institute, in a recent note.
A more or less similar scenario occurred for Democrats on March 31, 1968, when President Lyndon B. Johnson publicly announced that he would not run for a second term, in the middle of the Vietnam War.
What if Joe Biden dropped out between the convention and the election? The party’s “national committee” would hold an extraordinary session to name the candidate.
Committed delegates
The president indicated he has no plans to do that, telling supporters in Atlanta shortly after he left the debate stage: “Let’s move on.” Lauren Hitt, a spokeswoman for Biden’s campaign, was even clearer on Friday: “He’s certainly not going to back out.”
Conventions and their rules are controlled by political parties. The Democratic National Committee could meet before the convention opens on August 19 and change the way things are done, but that is unlikely as long as Biden is still trying to get re-elected.
Current standards say: “Elected delegates to the national convention who are pledged to a presidential candidate should accurately reflect the sentiments of those who elected them.”
Possible candidates?
Joe Biden has named Vice President Kamala Harris to campaign with him, but there is no rule that the running mate automatically replaces the incumbent.
On Thursday, Harris acknowledged that Joe Biden had been “slow at the start” but had “finished strong.”
At no point did he mention the possibility of replacing him.
In addition to Harris, others who have endorsed Biden in 2024 while harboring their own presidential aspirations for future cycles include California Gov. Gavin Newsom; Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer; Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro; Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and California Rep. Ro Khanna.
And others Biden outraised during the party’s 2020 presidential primaries could try again, including Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, as well as Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
If Biden were to abruptly drop out of the race, conservative groups have hinted that they would file lawsuits across the country to challenge the legality of the Democratic candidate’s name on the ballot.
But Elaine Kamarck, a senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution in Washington, who wrote a book about the presidential nominating process and is also a member of the Democratic National Committee’s regulatory arm, said the courts have consistently stayed out of the loop. political primaries, as long as the parties organizing them were not doing anything that contravened other constitutional rights, such as voter suppression based on race.
“Constitutionally it is very clear that this is within the jurisdiction of the party,” Kamarck said in an interview before the debate. “The issue of nominating someone to represent a political party is a matter for the political party.”
Source: EDITORIAL / AFP and AP
