Was the move to manipulate President Joe Biden’s unprecedented departure from the presidential race an “attempted intra-party coup”? In the words of syndicated columnist Rich Lowry, that’s a “pejorative, but accurate description of the campaign to get Biden to quit the race.”
How’s that for getting your attention for this week’s “Path to the Polls”?
Lowry wrote: “For donors, pundits and elected Democrats to attempt to undo this choice is frankly undemocratic. It looks even less democratic when it is factored in that a small handful of people — Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, James Clyburn and a couple of others — are the ones who have the true power perhaps to force Biden from the race.”
No modern president has ever stepped back from an election this late in the race. And the stunning development is creating more upheaval in a 2024 election already rocked by an assassination attempt.
It prompts so many questions.
The most obvious of which is, who is the next Democratic presidential nominee? Biden’s endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris gives her a leg up — but it’s not a slam dunk.
If VPs are chosen to help the candidate win, does that mean that Kamala Harris is actually the best candidate for the Democratic party, now that Biden is out of the race?
Speaking of running mates, a field of six has been bandied about as vice presidential choices for Harris. They are, in no particular order:
Each has their strengths and weaknesses, but in the end, the campaign has to decide who would give Harris an edge over Donald Trump. We’ll take a look and see.
Biden says he will finish his term as president. In the meantime, House Speaker Mike Johnson said there could be legal challenges over removing him from the ballot.
But experts seem to agree that because Biden dropped out before the convention, there really isn’t any legal issue because he is not officially the candidate. We’ll explore that further.
As for Biden, one has to wonder, would he have served himself better by agreeing to one term from the beginning, fulfilling his dream to be the nation’s commander-in-chief and grooming a successor?
Political analyst Daniel Cronrath joined me on this week’s streaming episode of “Vote 2024: Path to the Polls.”
You can watch our 7 p.m. Tuesday encore presentation on News4JAX+ or watch any time on demand on News4JAX+, News4JAX.com and the News4JAX YouTube channel