The US Democratic Party is extremely concerned about the prospects of its presidential candidate Joe Biden after the debate with Republican rival Donald Trump on June 27.
As Vox reports, the 81-year-old politician’s associates are considering three options for him over the next few months.
Scenario 1 — Biden remains
Joe Biden, despite the skepticism of political experts, will continue to participate in the election race.
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His position is stable, according to the results of the Democratic primaries in all states, accordingly, the majority of delegates are required to vote for his nomination at the convention according to party rules.
These delegates tend to be party loyalists trusted by the Biden team and state Democratic parties. They will not somehow rebel against him and remove him at the convention against his will.
At the same time, this scenario does not assume that Biden’s name will be placed on the ballot, but if he leaves the campaign, it will be only of his own free will.
Scenario 2 — Biden leaves the race, appointing a successor
In this case, the obvious choice for successor would be Vice President Kamala Harris.
However, the majority of fellow Democrats, and Biden himself, believe that she has many political weaknesses and Harris is not ready for such a serious challenge.
The Harris scenario would have been possible if Biden had been preparing her for succession over the past few years, rather than in a matter of months.
Governors Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan and Gavin Newsom of California could be the next candidates to succeed. However, their rating allows one to count only on luck.
It would also anger Kamala Harris's supporters, and herself, which would deprive this possibility of democratic legitimacy.
Scenario 3 — withdrawal from the race and open convention of the Democratic Party
In this case, Biden does not make any nominations for a successor, but invites party members to make their choice.
And the obvious venue for such a discussion would be the Democratic National Convention at the end of August.
In theory, this is more democratic than Biden's attempt to pre-select a successor, but the problem is that the delegates making such decisions themselves lack sufficient legitimacy.
They don't really represent the public and so this debate may be triggered by the fact that it is too late and logistically difficult to redo the national primary process.
In addition, the open convention will turn into a chaotic mess that will divide party members and could present a dubious image in front of millions of American television viewers.
