“I can do this job, otherwise I wouldn’t have applied.” Despite the disastrous televised confrontation with Donald Trump, US President Joe Biden does not seem willing to throw in the towel. But the message broadcast the day after the rally in North Carolina does not seem to have served to dispel doubts about him: certainty about the 81-year-old is beginning to shake among Democrats, with wild hypotheses that the candidate will change while he is running.
“There’s a sense of shock at the way he looked at the beginning of the debate, his tone of voice, the way he seemed a little confused,” was the clear and scathing assessment of Joe Biden’s performance last night, given by Barack Obama’s former strategist David Axelrod, one of the Democrats who has been expressing doubts and concerns for months that the president is too old to be re-elected in the debate with Donald Trump.
“There will be debates about whether it will continue, I don’t know if they’ll come to a conclusion, but it will happen,” he added in an interview with CNN, voicing what many Democrats are doing in true panic mode. After seeing it, I thought the 81-year-old man clearly had difficulties many times during the debate. Others took shelter behind the anonymous man and made even harsher judgments: “He was like a boxing champion who entered the ring when he was too old and should have thrown in the towel,” one Democratic lawmaker told NBCnews. I believe Biden should withdraw. “It’s time for an open convention and a new candidate,” he repeats another claim.
In short, even as party leaders continue to officially declare support for the president’s reelection bid, last night’s debate appears to have broken a taboo: Biden’s withdrawal. Starting with California Governor Gavin Newsom, one of the likely last-minute candidates, he told reporters that the party “could not be more united around Biden.”
Biden’s possible backpedal
The sentiment recorded behind closed doors in the House Democrats is very different; Many people experienced the 90 minutes of Biden as a “nightmare” as Biden spoke in a very low and hoarse voice that sometimes seemed to lose the flow of the conversation. So much so that, halfway through the debate, his team tried to hide the issue by saying the president had a cold.
So much so that changing candidates at the congress, which no national party does today and which is made extremely difficult by the party management itself, is now considered unthinkable. A possible change of candidate without Biden’s consent would be almost impossible, and any attempted coup against Biden during the convention, which will take place in Chicago from August 19 to 22, could split the party and cause elected delegates to raise their shields during the election. 99 percent of primaries are loyal to Biden. “Only he can decide if he wants to continue,” Biden said, referring to Axelrod and First Lady Jill, who could play a crucial role in convincing the president, who has so far been staunchly opposed to the idea of giving up the presidency. second term: “She may also deny the evidence of how bad things are – writes the Daily Beast – but unlike the last presidential family, she doesn’t seem like a wife who always agrees with her husband – adds Trump, who could return to the White House after the election – the Bidens have mutual “He seems to have a marriage based on respect and admiration.”
Possible substitutes
Therefore, once it was determined that the only plausible scenario would be for Biden to decide to back down, the question of plan B for the selection of an alternative candidate would arise. In recent months, Politico had already predicted, in a purely hypothetical way, the evolution of such a plan; He assumed that Biden, who won the primaries on June 4, would take a step back, assuming that he could take the decisive role by having control of Biden. Delegates said in the weeks before the convention, when an “all free” situation emerged among Democrats.
The trickiest issue with the potential new candidate is that the most obvious name is not also the most likely name; Vice President Kamala Harris’s name was confirmed on the list, even though she certainly didn’t shine in her first term and even gained popularity. It’s lower than Biden’s, at less than 40%. Other names floating around include those of president loyalists like Newsom, who some say tested the waters with a “shadow campaign” for the White House last year but is now committed to Biden’s re-election, as well as Newsom’s fellow governor. ‘Illinois JB Pritzker.
Another possible name could be Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, a Trump foe who was such a big ally of Biden’s campaign that she became his vice chairwoman and who gained immense popularity during the clashes with the far-right in the state during the pandemic. There are other names floating around, including one that could really give Democrats hope: Michelle Obama, the former First Lady who is still very popular, but who has continued to categorically deny any intention of entering politics for years.
After the tremendous success of her autobiographies, which she presented on a worldwide rock star tour, Michelle Obama is now busy pursuing a new career in film and television production with her husband. Rumors that he might enter the field at the last minute—rumors curiously persisted by Republicans, especially Trumpists, who have regularly exposed a secret Democratic plan to take Michelle to the White House—have been fueled. The former First Lady said in an interview at the beginning of the year that she was “afraid of what might happen in the next election.” Meanwhile, rumors indicate that Michelle Obama is far from Biden’s campaign: relations between the former First Lady and the president’s family have been frosty for years, thanks to the friendship that tied Mrs. Obama to the ex-wife of Joe’s son Hunter Biden. .
Meanwhile, Barack Obama is someone who stands by the president, thinks only of himself, tells the truth, distinguishes right from wrong, is honest with the American people and openly lies for his own benefit. “It’s changed and that’s why the stakes are so high in November.”
The ultimate crazy scenario
Then there’s another, much more chaotic scenario: Biden doesn’t back down, is nominated at the convention, but then for whatever reason he can’t run. What would happen? Convention rules stipulate that in the event of a candidate’s “death, resignation, or incapacity,” the party chairman must “communicate this to the Democratic leadership of Congress, the Democratic Executives Association, and the members of the Democratic National Committee,” who will then have to choose a new nominee.
In the meantime, they could choose Harris, who has been confirmed as the vice presidential nominee, and would therefore have to name a new vice president. Biden’s delayed withdrawal from the stage would be not only a political but also a logistical nightmare for states; Some of these states begin sending ballots for the military to vote abroad a few weeks after the convention, and they begin voting for the states shortly thereafter. Start voting by mail or in advance for American voters. For example, early voting will begin September 20 in Minnesota and South Dakota.
Source: Today IT
Karen Clayton is a seasoned journalist and author at The Nation Update, with a focus on world news and current events. She has a background in international relations, which gives her a deep understanding of the political, economic and social factors that shape the global landscape. She writes about a wide range of topics, including conflicts, political upheavals, and economic trends, as well as humanitarian crisis and human rights issues.
