After a debate that Joe Biden narrowly missed, commentators on US news networks wondered what might happen next. Could there be a contested Democratic convention? How would it work? Replacing the president may not be an option, they said, but many high-profile Democrats are talking about it, encouraged by Biden's poor debate performance.
MSNBC's Nicole Wallace explained how a candidate could release his delegates. Journalist Joy Reid said someone sent her the rules: “The rules are going around,” Wallace laughed. “No one is saying it will happen, it's very unlikely,” Reid reiterated.
Under the Democratic Party's current rules, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to replace Biden as the party's nominee without his cooperation or without party officials willing to rewrite their rules at the national convention in August.
The president overwhelmingly won Democratic delegates during the state-by-state primary process. And party rules state that “delegates elected to the national convention who are committed to a presidential candidate will conscientiously reflect the sentiments of those who elected them.”
That said, the Democratic convention rules are not as strict as the Republican ones, which throw out dissenting votes, which violates a delegate's pledged status.
The fact that a network close to Democrats has weighed in on whether an incumbent president running for re-election can be replaced after winning the nomination has led Democrats to rush after the debate to reaffirm Biden's ability to lead the nation. And many are wondering whether the party should seriously consider what more can be done.
From the start, Biden faltered in the debate, the first of the 2024 presidential election. It was hard to hear him as he mumbled and muffled statements, some of which, had they been delivered with the intended force, might have been successful. He said Donald Trump had “the morals of a stray cat,” but even that phrase was hard to make out.
Biden had challenged the former president to a debate, scheduled earlier than usual, in a bid to change the course of the presidential race. Biden had given a State of the Union address in which he was firm and energetic. And a debate could boost his campaign at a time when polls put him behind Trump.
Instead of a march to victory, or even the more general exchange of opinions about who claims to have won the debate, it was clear that Democrats see Biden's performance as a liability.
Kamala Harris later appeared on CNN and MSNBC to rebut and reiterate the reasons why voters should side with Biden. Both she and California Governor Gavin Newsom spoke repeatedly about how Trump lied and distracted during the debate, and tried to remind voters what a Trump presidency was like and what it could look like again.
“It was a slow start, there's no doubt about that, but I think it was a strong finish,” the vice president said on MSNBC before launching into a list of Biden's achievements, saying Biden is fighting for the people, while Trump fights for himself.
Newsom called the questions “useless” and “unnecessary” on MSNBC. The talks are “rabbit holes” that distort Biden's record and hinder democracy and the destiny of the country. “We need to have this president's back,” Newsom said. “You don't turn your back on him for a performance. Which party does that?”
The endorsements came as Democratic activists, both publicly and behind the scenes, worried about their prospects in November after a debate that focused on Biden's age and acumen, his biggest risk.
David Plouffe, a Democratic strategist and former Obama campaign official, called the debate “kind of a Defcon 1 moment.”
“What worries voters most in this election, both undecided and base voters, is their age, and that has been exacerbated tonight,” Plouffe said.
Democrats tried to see how they could tip the scales in Biden’s direction and forget about his debate performance in the minds of voters: send their surrogates to support him, put strong speakers like Harris or Newsom on the morning programs, announce an initiative, endorsement, or a great idea. Anything to change the narrative.
What is at stake in this election – the fate of democracy itself – underlines how important Democrats value a victory in November, and how concerned they are that Biden could lose to Trump, who represents an attack on their most fundamental values .
Maria Shriver, former first lady of California, said she loves Biden and knows he is a good man, but that the evening was “heartbreaking in so many ways.” And he added: “This is a big political moment. There is panic within the Democratic party. “It's going to be a long night.”
Nicholas Kristof, a left-wing political columnist, said on Twitter/X that he hopes Biden will think about the debate and decide to withdraw from the race, leaving it up to the convention to decide who the nominee should be. He suggested someone like Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer; Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown; or Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo [incluso hay quien piensa en la vicepresidenta Harris o la ex primera dama Michelle Obama].
Former Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri said on MSNBC that Biden had a mission and wasn't fulfilling it: He had to “assure America that he was up to the task at his age, and he failed.”
“Democrats are doing more than quietly complaining and wondering why Biden's surrogates, who performed well to counter Biden's debate performance, are not the ones taking the lead,” McCaskill said: “I know what it felt like tonight: like a blow in the heart.” the guts.”