This is meant as an unofficial thread for the Daily Kos Elections crowd to discuss what is going on with Biden and efforts to get him to step down from the Presidential nomination. This is because very wisely talk over who should be the nominee aka primary talk is forbidden because it tends to drown out all other talk. All I ask for in this thread is that we keep it to electoral politics (how it will affect the election) rather than policy.
First obviously spare a thought and a prayer for President Joe Biden. Hopefully his COVID symptoms remain mild and he has a complete recovery.
Second I’ll address the suggestion of replacing Biden against his will. There are three flavors of delegates. There are “Super Delegates” of elected officials. Unless there is a second ballot put them off to a side. The rest are pledged delegates. Most elected, some selected at-large by State Parties The vast majority of delegates are elected Biden delegates. In almost all states the Biden campaign itself plays a key and often direct role on who gets to be an elected delegate. That means putting aside any rules or laws of who has to vote for whom this is a tough crowd to sell on a nominee besides Biden.
In addition the Biden campaign controls who gets appointed to the Rules Committee and the Credentials Committee. The first is the committee that makes and interprets the rules for the convention. And the second determines who gets credentials to be a delegate. And we haven’t even gotten into who chairs the convention and recognizes what motion. In short the rules are not written to encourage dissent. They are written to give all power to the presumed nominee. You are not beating Biden. And if you figure out how his campaign will change the game and you will lose anyway. Joe Biden is not going anywhere unless Joe Biden decides he wants to step aside.
Third as things stand now there is no virtual roll call vote next week as has been rumored for awhile. May be the week of August 6th but unlikely to be at the actual convention. If as most people expect Biden stays in this will help silence critics as the convention will lose the actual power of nomination. If he were to get out this would make dealing with potential multiple votes easier.
Fourth. While more Democrats are calling for Biden to get out. It is becoming less relevant as such calls face math and logistics. It simply does not happen without Biden. This whole exercise if we are to call that is about persuading Biden to change his mind. With most threats being a bluff. That is not to say there are not real concerns.
Fifth. Biden has been a great President and if he is our nominee we still have to work hard for him. And even if we displeased with aspects of his campaign turn lemons into lemonade. Some of that might be changes in strategy on his end. More speeches and perhaps nix debates (i.e. refuse to debate Trump until he apologizes for saying Biden tried to have him killed… someone we know Trump will say and NOT apologize for). But a lot of it is directing our fire at Trump. And of course volunteering to help the ticket top to bottom.
Sixth. It’s the Republican Convention and someone tried to shoot the Republican nominee before it. This is by definition a bad snapshot in time for us. The Olympics will come and drown most other things out for awhile. Then you will have our Convention where a number of our people including President Biden are going to give great speeches and hopefully get everyone excited. Better times are coming if you’re patient.
Will it be enough? Who can say.
Maybe a change up top might give us a better chance in November. But it is almost August and time is short. It’s pre-Olympics when nobody is paying much attention so argue away. If we Democrats are good at anything it’s worrying and arguing. But post Labor Day we better all be on the same page supporting our nominee be it Biden or anyone else. The stakes are just too damn high.