President Joe Biden dropping out of the presidential race was expected, as his ageing became all too apparent, especially during the debate against Trump. But the question is, what happens now?
Kamala Harris taking over as presidential candidate is seen as natural, as she is the vice-president. But the nomination will actually take place on 19 August at the Democratic Convention. What happens then? Could she be replaced? Apparently there are problems with the campaign donations, which can only be kept if Harris is on the list, otherwise they should be paid back, as they were donated to the campaign of Biden and Harris. But can we have a new candidate, with Harris again as vice-president? Maybe that would be a way to keep the money? Harris is unpopular and considered unfit by many. At the convention, there is a chance to get rid of her too.
Joe Biden has not been seen for several days. There are rumours that he is ill or even dead. Some point to the unusual fact that the resignation was written on a piece of paper without the president’s seal. If the party forced him to drop out of the presidential campaign, then it is a kind of coup d’état.
If he is too ill to run, is he healthy enough to continue as president? Should he also resign as president? And how long has he been ill? Malicious tongues say he was not much healthier during the last election, but then it was shameful to question his condition. The ultimate question is who is running the US at the moment? Or who has been running the US for the last 3 years?
Presumably there is an internal power struggle within the Democratic Party. There are at least two different factions, Obama and Clinton. Harris’ candidacy has been endorsed by the Clintons, but not by Obama. Then there is Robert F Kennedy Jr who is ostracised from the party but might consider a Democratic nomination, at the moment he is not even protected by the secret service. Kennedy, on the other hand, is a populist and popular in some quarters. There is some speculation that Gavin Newsom or even Hillary Clinton could emerge as a last-minute candidate.
The election is probably lost for the Democrats, Trump is hugely popular, and whoever runs against him (when the election is only a few months away) will probably lose big. And then you don’t put forward your very best candidate? Maybe it’s enough to run to save as many seats in the House as possible, so that Trump and the Republicans don’t wipe the slate clean. And then the Democrats can rebuild the party, lick their wounds and focus on the next election instead. And from that point of view, Harris is a decent candidate.
