President Biden could be pushed aside, or he could voluntarily give up the nomination and endorse a replacement, panicked party insiders and vocal Democrats are saying in the aftermath of Mr. Biden’s catastrophic debate performance.
The post-debate choices for Mr. Biden and his party are difficult, however, now that the Democratic presidential primary is over and nearly every delegate is pledged to the president.
Dumping him from the ticket would upend the election and the path to finding a new nominee would be difficult and loaded with political land mines.
Mr. Biden could easily remain on the ballot and ride out the rocky aftermath of the debate, in which he appeared old, frail and at times confused.
That move, say analysts, is the most likely outcome but it could guarantee a defeat for Democrats in November.
“The problem for Biden is twofold,” said pollster and strategist Ron Faucheux. “His debate performance only confirmed the concerns many voters already had about his physical and mental fitness for office. It will be hard to change that now. Second, he no longer appears to be able to sell a message, and it’s really hard to be a presidential candidate if you can’t do that.”
Here are the options for Mr. Biden and his Democratic Party:
Biden steps aside
Under this scenario, Mr. Biden would voluntarily remove himself as the Democratic presidential nominee. The delegates Mr. Biden won in the primary and who are now pledged to him would be freed up to vote for a new candidate.
Mr. Biden could endorse a replacement but his recommendation does not guarantee who the delegates would choose as his successor on the ticket. Vice President Kamala Harris polls poorly, but dumping her in favor of California Gov. Gavin Newsom or another candidate who appears more viable would risk angering the base.
Mr. Biden could go a step beyond that and resign from office, making Ms. Harris the new president.
“That sort of move would also carry some weight with the delegates,” said Josh Putnam, a party rules expert and founder of FHQ Strategies LLC, a nonpartisan political consulting venture. “Harris’ nomination would be anything but assured in those scenarios, but I think a Harris nomination in those circumstances would be the path of least resistance for the party and the delegates.”
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Why it’s unlikely: While calls for Mr. Biden to voluntarily step aside surfaced after the debate, both the president and his campaign team squelched the idea.
“No,” a campaign spokesperson told The Washington Times when asked whether Mr. Biden would drop out.
Delegates force Biden off the ticket
It would be difficult, but not impossible for Democratic Convention delegates to replace Mr. Biden on the ticket against the president’s wishes. Nearly all of the roughly 4,000 delegates are pledged to Mr. Biden, but they are not legally required to vote for him. It leaves open the possibility that, even without the nod from Mr. Biden, the delegates could move to toss him off the ticket and vote for a new nominee.
Why it’s unlikely: The convention is just weeks away and the primaries are over. Replacing Mr. Biden would subvert the will of thousands of votes and require an enormous about-face from the president’s handpicked delegates at the convention.
“The hour has grown too late for any sort of delegate movement against Biden,” Mr. Putnam said.
Though the Democratic delegates are not bound to vote for Biden, they were selected by the Biden team based on their loyalty to the president. That makes it less likely they will abandon him even in the wake of his disastrous debate performance, Mr. Putnam said.
Mr. Biden also has the backing, for now, of House Democrats who will serve as convention superdelegates.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a New York Democrat, who will hold considerable sway over fellow party lawmakers, said Friday that he “stands behind the ticket.”
And there’s another safety net for Mr. Biden. In June, Democratic National Convention officials changed the party rules to allow them to virtually nominate the Biden-Harris ticket in the coming weeks. The move would lock in Mr. Biden as the nominee before the convention is scheduled to begin on Aug. 11.
A DNC spokeswoman did not provide details about when, or if the DNC will nominate Mr. Biden online.
Stay the course
Panicky Democrats aside, Mr. Biden remaining in the race and riding out the devastating aftermath of his debate performance is not only possible, it’s likely, say Democratic insiders.
The election is more than four months away, leaving plenty of time for Mr. Biden to rehabilitate his image.
“I think people understand he’s the best choice to take on and to beat Donald Trump because he’s on the ballot — decided by the people in the primary,” said Democratic strategist Antjuan Seawright.
He dismissed out of hand any talk of replacing Mr. Biden with Mr. Newsom.
“The good news is elections are not won or lost on the debate stage, and it’s certainly not one on any debate stage in June,” he said.
• Kerry Picket contributed to this report.
• Susan Ferrechio can be reached at sferrechio@washingtontimes.com.
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