I’ve been part of this argument about Biden’s fitness to run again since the day after the debate. I’ve read most of the arguments posted, both by those who want Biden to stay in, and those who want Biden to withdraw. Mostly it’s just been a thoroughly messy pie fight, one that’s consumed the past two weeks without actually changing a single solitary thing.
Here is where we are at:
- Biden is still the presumptive nominee. As things stand, he and VP Harris will receive the nomination at the DNC next month. The only way for this can change is for him to release his pledged delegates, which he has indicated he will not do.
At this point, those of you who are still opposed need to do the following:
- Show us that there is a single ticket we can all unify behind. I don’t mean putting out your personal picks as hypotheticals, I mean show us that the major figures in the Democratic Party, who have been pushing this idea that Biden should step down, have an actual alternative ticket they want to run instead. Not just the presidential candidate, but the VP too.
- Next, show us that there is a plan to make sure that the delegates can be made to vote for this alternative ticket. Right now, if Biden releases his delegates and asks them to vote for VP Harris and an as-yet-unnamed VP, they would be in the position of Hillary Clinton’s “superdelegates” in 2008, having agreed to do so, but with no way to actually make sure they do it.
- Finally, show us that there is a way to convince Biden to go along with this. I don’t mean like the pressure campaign that the media plus various named and unnamed Democrats waged, which appears to be in the process of coming apart at the seams. I mean a way to get him to agree with it, without undermining his prestige and capability as the sitting president the way that pressure campaign would have had it succeeded.
Because I’ll be blunt, after more than two weeks of this, I don’t think any of that is going to happen. The higher-ups in the Democratic Party still haven’t actually proposed who they want on this ticket, which to me is a big old red flag because if they wanted Harris-?, it would be pretty easy to just say that and find someone who they think can balance her on the ticket. Yet they haven’t, and that makes me a hell of a lot more nervous than running with the team we have.
I do not want there to be a bunch of ballots to try to decide the presidential or vice-presidential nominee. Remember the twin debacles for the replacement Speaker selections last year? That’s how we would look, except a lot more people will be watching the DNC and it will consequently hit us a lot harder.
And remember, none of this can possibly happen as long as Biden is determined to remain the nominee. And if more than two weeks of this haven’t changed that, then there’s no reason to assume that another several weeks will. Biden got even more fiery and driven after this very public questioning of his fitness and competence.
So either lead by showing the rest of us how we can do this, or follow by getting out the vote despite your misgivings and fears so we can win in November, or get out of the way.