New Delhi: In a stunning decision, the US President Joe Biden announced on July 21 that he was dropping out of the presidential race, just four months before the United States goes for its 60th presidential elections.
Faced with calls from inside the Democratic party to withdraw due to his age, he said in a statement on Sunday that it was “in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term”.
In a subsequent post on X, he extended “full support and endorsement” to Vice-President Kamala Harris to be the Democratic nominee for the post of US President. The opposition Republican candidate, former President Donald Trump was endorsed by the Republican National Convention
Immediately after Biden’s announcement, a series of top Democrat politicians have endorsed Harris, from the Clintons, Tim Kaine to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, indicating that they would like to quickly unite behind one candidate.
Also read: How Viable Is Kamala Harris as the Democratic Nominee for President?
Has this happened earlier?
In 1968, amid peak anti-Vietnam War sentiments even within his own party, President Lyndon B. Johnson had announced his withdrawal from the election. Vice-President Hubert Humphrey entered the race but did not participate in any state primary elections. Instead, he secured the most delegates at the Democratic National Convention in August. It was the last open convention where delegates were free to vote for whomever they wanted.
However, he lost the election to Republican Richard Nixon in a close race, largely due to the police response to the Chicago anti-war protesters, the demoralised liberal supporters affected by the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy, and the unpopularity of Johnson himself.
Is the Convention going to endorse Harris?
While Harris is the only Democrat to have received public endorsements from several party leaders till now, it is not a given that she will replace Biden.
The official nominee of party will be selected by delegates at the Democratic National Convention next month, where they are free to vote for any candidate they like.
In a statement posted on X, Jamie Harrison, chairperson of Democratic National Committee said that the American people will soon “hear from the Democratic Party on next steps and the path forward for the nomination process.”
The American people owe President Biden an enormous debt of gratitude for the unparalleled progress he has delivered over the last four years – and we will honor that legacy, and the decision that he has made today, through a firm commitment to nominating and electing a…
Advertisement— Jaime Harrison (@harrisonjaime) July 21, 2024
He added the process will be governed by DNC rules and procedures that are already established.
Before that, he also withdrew his candidature to be nominee.
It is still unclear whether other candidates would challenge Harris, with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg stating that he will not be in the ring. But, there have been other reported candidates in the days leading up to Biden’s withdrawal – state governors, J.B. Pritzker, Gretchen Whitmer, Gavin Newsom and Josh Shapiro. The last two have now withdrawn from the race, while Pritzker’s name is being floated as Harris’ running mate. A prospective presidential candidate has to receive backing of at least 300 delegates.
How would be nominee be selected now?
Last time, in 2020, Biden was assumed to the nominee after winning the state primary at Georgia. However, as is tradition, he was not declared as the official nominee till his total delegate count went past the 1,968 majority mark at the national roll call at the Democratic National Convention, which will be held this time from August 19-22.
As per rules, 14 states, about 28%, had laws that bound them to the candidates who won the state primary. However, 12 of them also said that delegates are free to vote for whomever they want, in successive rounds of voting, till a candidate gets the requisite number of votes.
“No delegate at any level of the delegate selection process shall be mandated by law or Party rule to vote contrary to that person’s presidential choice as expressed at the time the delegate is elected,” said the 2024 Democrat delegate selection rules.
Additionally, another rule provides some flexibility in choice: “Delegates elected to the national convention pledged to a presidential candidate shall in all good conscience reflect the sentiments of those who elected them”.
If there is more than one round, then ‘super delegates’, who are leading party members like lawmakers, governors, former presidents and vice-presidents, can also cast their vote.
This is the same way that a vice-presidential candidate will also be nominated.
As per Axios, a possible scenario is for a pre-convention virtual vote. “There are informal ways of nudging them in a particular direction,” said Josh Putnam, a political consultant specialising in delegate selection rules and presidential campaigns.
If that fails, there could be an open convention.
