Sunday’s announcement from the White House in a letter from the White House, posted on the social media platform X from President Joe Biden that he was going to stand down from being a candidate for the presidency in the 2024 election left most people in the United States thunderstruck, especially after saying for weeks that he was going to stay, and notably at a recent rally in Detroit where there was a roaring approval from the crowd.
For many, especially his supporters in Chicago, there was a sense of disbelief and sadness, and a distinct feeling that Biden was being pushed out, especially from the donor class, led by actor George Clooney, who had been a prominent fundraiser, but also from Democratic leadership, such as former Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, and House Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, coupled with a raft of major newspapers, most notably The New York Times, who in an editorial, said that he needed to step down, due to his age, and surprisingly also a reliable supporter, The Washington Post.
Whether it was this growing chorus, or that coffers were being closed, and depriving him of the needed money for his campaign, or advice from his family, the latter which is unknown, the decision was made after months of criticism and wariness of his age, 81, and especially of his mental acuity, after a dismal debate performance with former President Donald Trump, where suffering from a bad cold and two overseas trips, he seemingly lost his train of thought, and did not give the succinct answers his supporters expected.
It’s not necessarily a surprise to see this concern, because many people had told us of it, and added unfounded claims of senility, or Alzheimer's, the die was cast, and the pressures, in combination with the above, led to his withdrawal.
What he did next, endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic candidate was not only expected but hoped for, and the reaction among many of their leadership was a wholesale endorsement, with the notable exception of former President Barack Obama, has energized Democrats and the money has poured in, to the tune of $231 million dollars in less than a day.
Harris herself, while the obvious choice for a replacement does face considerable obstacles, number one being a woman, in a country, rare in the Western World, that has not had a female head of state, but also being a racial minority, with an Indian born mother and a Jamaican father, and who identifies as a Black American, and one who brings considerable background as an attorney general for California and also as a District Attorney, plus three and a half years as vice president.
For political baggage she has the role as intercessor for the crisis at the Southern Border, and is already being beaten about the head by Republicans, as the “Border Czar,” a false title, but nevertheless a convenient smear, since immigration is the leading issue for the GOP, and a signature part of any Trump speech, and he has been widely reported saying that immigrants are “poisoning the blood”of Americans, violent crime, false claims of illegal voting, and a host of unwarranted social ills.
In August the Democrats will hold their convention in Chicago, and at stake is an open, if not brokered convention, the former which last happened in the same city in 1968. But, as of Monday it was reported that Harris had a clear majority of delegates to clinch the nomination, and she needs 1,976 pledged delegates and she has far exceeded that number.
In a statement released from her campaign late on Monday, she said, “Tonight, I am proud to have secured broad support needed to become our party’s nominee, and as a daughter of California, I am proud that my home state’s delegation helped put our campaign over the top. I look forward to formally accepting the nomination soon.”
Obama has indicated that he wants an open primary versus a political anointing, and with the money and the endorsements pouring in might be tempting; but, since the primary votes to Biden are not automatically granted to Harris, there may be some type of political horse trading to be done.
Harris has also received a vast array of endorsements from lawmakers across the country, and all of the Democratic governors have given their support, among them, Gov. JB Pritzker of Illinois, Wes Moore, Roy Cooper, Gretchen Whitmer, and Mark Warner.
Meanwhile the Trump campaign is in seeming tatters as they based their entire campaign on fighting Biden and now have become increasingly concerned about Harris, and her roles in public service, in two prominent roles, and the vice presidency and her reputation as a prosecutor, and with sharp elbows has caused Trump to say he will not debate her in September, in what many of her supporters have told us, “would make mincemeat out of him.”
There are questions that the Republicans might mount a legal challenge to the Harris candidacy, but some legal and government voices have said that won't happen.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, in particular has expressed his doubts about the legality of Harris appearing on the ballot, citing state rules, and along with other GOP officials has threatened to take Democrats to court, but legal opinion says that there's no standing for that effort, and Axios quoted Ben Ginsberg, “an attorney who has long represented Republicans,” who said," There's nothing to the these threats, a convention naming a candidate who then gets ballot placement in every state is the normal course of business.”
No one candidate is the official nominee, until there is a vote, wrote legal scholar Rick Hansen in his op-ed piece for slate.com on Monday.
The most emphatic “no” was from Democratic attorney, Marc Elias who told MSNBC, “There is a zero, point, zero, zero, zero percent that Mike Johnson and his fever dream, of somehow there being legal action to prevent Kamala Harris . . . to keep [her] off the ballot, there is no chance that will happen.”
This is a developing story
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