Joe Biden endorsed Kamala Harris after he posted a letter to X saying he was dropping out of the race—but not until 30 minutes after his announcement. Did he forget her?
Harris is doing okay in polls taken since it became a possibility that Biden would drop out. But few Democrats will make the case that she is qualified to lead the United States. And once the American people get a good look at and listen to Harris, her support among non-Democrats could crater.
Her biggest advantage is that Biden's $234 million war chest will be hers. No other candidate can claim it, and if they try, the Republicans will definitely pounce with a flurry of legal filings. They may yet file suit to keep Biden on the ballot.
Does that mean there will be an open convention? The scramble in governors' offices in Pennsylvania, California, and Illinois must be intense at this point. With Biden's belated and lukewarm endorsement, will there be an incipient revolt among the 700 superdelegates who may not want their political futures tied to one of the most unpopular vice presidents in history?
But Democrats will probably coalesce behind Harris if only for survival. A convention that would leave blood on the floor and a bad taste in voters' mouths would totally doom the Democrats in November.
As I mentioned earlier, Republicans could file legal challenges to keep Biden on the ballot.
Speaking on ABC’s “This Week,” [Speaker Mike] Johnson said, “Every state has its own system, and in some of these, it’s not possible to simply just switch out candidates."
Johnson’s assertion, which echoed remarks he made during the Republican National Convention, suggests a strategy Republicans could be looking toward should Biden decides to withdraw from the presidential election. “I think in states where it can be contested, I expect that it will be, and they’ll have an interesting battle on their hands,” the Louisiana Republican said Thursday of a possible switch.
Technically, Biden has not yet been formally nominated to be the Democratic presidential candidate and won’t be until a vote of the delegates selected to the Democratic National Convention. Still, Johnson said there might be grounds for a challenge, given that Biden was the overwhelming winner of the party’s primaries.
“I think they would run into some legal impediments in at least a few of these jurisdictions,” he told host Martha Raddatz. “We’ll see how it plays out.”
Everything is up in the air. A few Democrats will almost certainly call for some kind of open process at the convention where delegates can vote for other candidates. The rules committee will have the final say. The fate of Kamala Harris and Democrats in November will be riding on what they decide.
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