As long as Joe Biden is the Democratic nominee, he has my support.
Joe Biden is the Democratic nominee. If he steps down, should that scenario materialize, then Kamala Harris should be the replacement
In the last two-plus weeks since the awful June 27th debate performance against Donald Trump, there have been calls for President Joe Biden (D) to end his bid for the 2024 Democratic nomination, and it’s led to drama within the Democratic Party apparatus. Biden himself has said that he is staying in the race.
The attempted assassination against Donald Trump on Saturday night knocked the Biden nomination drama out of the news, and likely put a kibosh to efforts to replace Biden (at least temporarily).
Steven Beschloss writes in his America, America blog on the state of Joe Biden’s nomination status:
You don’t need me to tell you we are in uncharted territory. There’s no question that there are plenty of panicking Democrats and out-for-blood media types determined to force President Joe Biden out of the race. But what if they are wrong? What if—despite current polling that finds most Americans say Biden is too old— the majority can be convinced of the value of an elderly president, even if there are difficult days that come along with it? Would it make a difference if those challenging days are counterbalanced by humane values, the capacity for wise decision-making resulting from deep experience, knowledge and enough fighting power to push back against a mad criminal hungry for retribution and fascism? What if that candidate has garnered enough affection from a grateful public that they are increasingly willing to overlook his shortcomings and latch onto his lingering strengths?
Such questions occurred to me while watching Joe Biden’s remarkably spirited speech in Detroit yesterday evening. Clearly buoyed by a boisterous crowd, breaking into chants like “Don’t go Joe” and “We’ve got your back,” the president offered the most pointed and aggressive case against Donald Trump and for his own agenda since the campaign has started.
Mary L. Trump makes a good case for keeping Biden as our nominee in her The Good in Us Substack:
The press was hoping for a repeat of the debate. Instead, President Biden took them to school.
In a ridiculously anticipated press conference at the conclusion of the NATO summit—during which the president has actually been doing the job people suddenly aren’t sure he can do—Biden stood before a press corps which has seemingly forgotten its adherence to journalistic neutrality, and reminded them, and everyone else, why he’s been such a successful president.[…]
Despite his stutter, despite unreasonable expectations, President Biden can stand in front of the White House press corps and speak at length and in detail about domestic and foreign policy. He may occasionally stumble over a word or mix up a name (just as most of us do on a daily basis), but he never forgets who America stands with; he never forgets America’s values. I don’t believe that Pres. Biden is the only person who can beat Donald. But I do believe he is the person who has the best chance to beat him.
[…]
At his press conference, Pres. Biden reminded us that he is not on the ticket alone. Responding to a question about whether Vice President Kamala Harris is qualified and ready to be president, Biden offered his unequivocal support and gave a very sincere endorsement of Harris’s abilities and her capacity to serve.
It was an important reminder that we have a strong ticket with two strong candidates. Either one of them can beat Donald, the worst, weakest, most traitorous candidate for the presidency in this country’s history.
The New York Times is out with another editorial, this one calling on other Democrats—the leadership and elders, including Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Speaker Emeritus Nancy Pelosi—to call on Biden to drop out of the race, as the Times did two weeks ago.
Who’s gonna tell them?
It’s over. He’s in, and going nowhere—whether you, I, or anyone else is happy about it or not.
[…]
I may be wrong, and it’s possible it goes the other way again. But it seems like it’s a done deal. The columnists and prognosticators who called for Biden to leave can probably blame themselves. Many did not provide a clear-cut solution—just called for Biden to leave—like suggesting the relatively easy fix of having Vice President Harris put at the top of the ticket, a natural solution since she’s on the ticket and would get the war chest of money, while no other candidate legally could.
Others floated notions of a “mini-primary” or a battle at the convention among delegates to pick a candidate—and there is James Carville’s crazy plan to have Bill Clinton and Barack Obama “choose” eight candidates who would hold “town halls” around the country.
Many people, apparently including many members of Congress, got the whiff of injustice at bypassing Harris and and envisioned chaos with other solutions.
What can we say to make you go, Joe? It is the question that more and more Democrats – elected members and ordinary voters – are asking as the rumbling crisis over Joe Biden’s presidential candidacy, sparked by a pitiful display in the debate in Atlanta, degenerates into a war of attrition.
Last Thursday, the president’s fate appeared perched on the edge of an abyss, as Congress members deserted him, senators poured out their heartfelt fears at a tearful meeting with White House staff, and even his own close aides and advisers briefed reporters that he should stand aside.
Then Biden gave a rare press conference to close Nato’s 75th anniversary summit in Washington. With the exception of the now half-expected flubs – referring to Kamala Harris as “Vice-President Trump” (having earlier introduced Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, as “President Putin”) – the feared Atlanta-style disaster did not materialise; instead, the 81-year-old Biden seemed to confound his advanced years as he expounded on foreign policy with an authority that would certainly have eluded Donald Trump, even if several thoughts trailed off unfinished.
Consequently, the president is now locked in a battle of wills with key segments of his party, with the campaign to coax him to step aside and avert a possible catastrophic election defeat boiling down to who has the greater conviction.
[…]
The default answer may be to hope for the worst as a means of hoping for the best, according to Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics. That means waiting for Biden to undergo another crack-up reminiscent of the debate fiasco during the rash of public appearances he has promised to re-establish his credibility.
[…]
Another imagined scenario – widely touted, yet far from inevitable – is of party elders visiting the White House and persuading Biden to stand aside in the wider interest, as Republican grandees did with Richard Nixon in 1974 at the denouement of Watergate, telling him he would be impeached if he did not resign.
My view is that as long as Biden is our nominee and running, we need to rally behind him. If Biden does end his run, then Kamala Harris should take his place on the ticket. The decision on whether or not Biden stays is up to him.
In any case, vote Blue 2024 up and down the ballot to stop Project 2025 and MAGA extremism!
UPDATE (07.21.2024, 2:32PM CDT): President Joe Biden (D) ends his bid for re-election, endorses Vice-President Kamala Harris (D) to lead the ticket for the 2024 election.
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We have growing evidence from multiple polls/surveys that Kamala Harris would give Trump a closer race than Biden would. Given the stakes this fall, why can't we have a real conversation about how Biden should step aside for Harris? She could reset the race in a week, especially with a strong VP pick. There's no real upside to having Biden as the nominee at this point.