There are a lot of pundits and reporters and sources out there speculating about what an open competition to become the Democratic nominee for president would look like, should Joe Biden be convinced not to seek reelection. (That’s a possibility that’s looking ever so slightly more likely with each hour that passes, and each report about mandatory napping that is published.)
They’re talking Gavin Newsoms, they’re talking Mayor Petes and Governor Whitmers, they’re leaking polling data about who would do best head-to-head against Donald Trump … it’s a free-for-all. But there are other pundits and sources out there trying to shut that discussion down—and frankly being a little smug about it—by saying that it would be “nearly impossible” in that case for the nominee to be anyone but Kamala Harris. Some are doing this because they would want the nominee to be Harris. Others just think it’s a political reality and speculating otherwise is frivolous and fanciful.
It’s admittedly an easy argument to make. Harris is the vice president, the president’s legal successor. There’s no law that says she’d have to succeed him on the ballot; vice presidents can be replaced on a ticket, although it hasn’t happened since the Truman administration. Still, were Biden to announce that he was releasing delegates at the Democratic National Convention in August to vote for someone else, it would not be surprising if he then endorsed Harris, which would likely carry a lot of weight with delegates who’d been planning to vote for her already as veep.
AdvertisementThere are plausible reasons for Biden to head off a competition........