Democrats Look for a New 2024 Candidate Following Biden’s Departure

On Monday, Democrats found themselves on unfamiliar ground as they hurried to select a new standard-bearer in the wake of President Joe Biden’s unexpectedly abrupt withdrawal from the 2024 presidential contest.

The party vowed a “transparent and orderly process” to replace Biden, who gave in to Democratic fears on Sunday about his age and ability to defeat Republican Donald Trump in November. Vice President Kamala Harris was in the lead.

A race to confirm a new candidate at the Democratic convention in Chicago on August 19—and possibly even weeks earlier—began with the announcement.

Importantly, Biden quickly endorsed Harris, who has the support of Democratic politicians and party veterans, including Bill and Hillary Clinton, at least one-third of US senators, and several influential governors.

However, a number of well-known figures were first holding back, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, former President Barack Obama, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and his significant predecessor Nancy Pelosi.

“In the coming days, we will be traversing unfamiliar territory,” Obama declared in a press release following Biden’s declaration.

“However, I am extremely optimistic that our party’s leaders will be able to establish a procedure that produces a superb nominee.”

“Complete assistance”

Harris, the only female vice president in US history and a Black and South Asian woman, didn’t seem to have any immediate competitors, and any potential contender might only have a brief window of opportunity to provide a different course of action.

More than two weeks before the event, CBS reported that prospective convention delegates were being informed to anticipate a vote on August 1 to officially place Harris’s name at the top of the ticket.

So far, there have been few calls for an open convention in Chicago; Harris is being backed by prominent California governor Gavin Newsom, one of Harris’s possible opponents.

“Yes, she needs to earn it and there is a process to follow. But when Joe Biden chose her to be his vice president, Claire McCaskill, a former senator from Missouri, stated on MSNBC, “she earned it in many ways.”

Since Biden’s lackluster debate performance in June, the Democratic ticket has been in disarray, while Republicans have gathered around Trump following his assassination attempt eight days ago at a Pennsylvania rally.

After defying calls to resign for over three weeks, Biden finally revealed his bombshell while recuperating from COVID-19 at his beach residence in Delaware.

The seasoned Democrat declared that serving as president had been the “greatest honor of my life” and that he will address the country later this week, endorsing Harris with his “full support and endorsement.”

Harris is “probably”

With his resignation, Biden becomes the first US president to leave office so late in the year and the first not to run for office again in 56 years.

Political science professor and analyst Donna Patterson of Delaware State University claimed that his departure had given the campaign “new energy.”

“With Biden’s support and the hours that have passed since the announcement, it appears very likely that Kamala Harris will run for president,” she continued.

With Biden’s action, Trump—who is 78 years old—becomes the oldest presidential nominee in US history. In response to the news, he blasted Biden as “not fit to run” and “certainly not fit to serve” in a string of posts on Truth Social.

In addition, he demanded that ABC News be replaced with Trump-friendly Fox News for the upcoming presidential debate, which is scheduled for September.

Running mate J.D. Vance, however, emphasized that Harris had supported Biden “every step of the way,” calling him “the worst president in my lifetime.”

The vice president did well on the campaign trail on important subjects like abortion, but she found it difficult to make an impression in her early years in the White House.

“There will be challenges for anyone the Democrats nominate, and I’m pretty sure it will be Harris,” stated Donald Nieman, a political analyst and professor at New York state’s Binghamton University.

“However, the announcement refocuses attention from Biden’s cognitive and physical limitations, which has been the subject of the last three weeks.”