The criticism of Joe Biden is not letting up – but how could the Democrats even decide on a new candidate? This could even still be possible at their delegate conference in August. The Open Convention – simply explained.
Since the disastrous TV debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, nothing has been the same in the USA. Doubts about the 81-year-old president’s fitness had already been growing, and the debate confirmed the worst fears: Biden looked like a wax figure at times, his weak voice barely able to penetrate into Americans’ living rooms. Again and again he stumbled over his words, closed his eyes for several seconds, and started again. Even all his political experience was of no use: he seemed like a doddering grandfather who you smile encouragingly at a family celebration when he loses the thread again.
Of course, there is no room for such leniency in the office of the most powerful man in the world. Do the Democrats have to replace Joe Biden as presidential candidate – and is that even possible?
The simple answer is yes. The Democrats will not officially decide who they will put forward as their presidential candidate until their nominating convention in August.
For more than 70 years, the nominating conventions in the USA have been a mere formality. The presidential candidate of each party is chosen in the primaries – and Joe Biden won them by a clear margin. In the USA, it is generally assumed that the incumbent president will run for a second term. At the nominating convention, the winner of the primaries is only officially confirmed by his party as the presidential candidate.
But in principle, the delegates can also agree on another candidate on that day. There are two scenarios for this:
1. A majority of delegates refuse to support Biden
The delegates whose votes Biden won in the primary are not legally bound to vote for him at the nominating convention. If enough of them refuse to vote for Biden, he will not become the presidential candidate.
The only time an incumbent president was rejected as a candidate by his party before his second term was in 1856. President Franklin Pierce, who had become increasingly unpopular because of his support for slavery, was unable to secure enough votes at the Democratic Party’s nominating convention to run again.
Such a scenario is considered extremely unlikely for Joe Biden. Internal party rules bind the delegates to the candidate they were elected for in the primary. Biden won 95 percent of all delegate votes in the primaries. In addition, despite the occasional failures, he enjoys respect for his long political experience. Almost 2,000 of his party friends, some of whom have been with him for many years, would have to betray him and go against their party’s rules to prevent him from running.
2. Biden voluntarily resigns as candidate
If Joe Biden voluntarily renounces the nomination, any other Democrat could stand for election at the party convention. Such a vote is known in the USA as “Open Convention”: The candidates would try to convince as many democratic delegates as possible in an open debate. Then a vote would be held – as often as necessary to find a majority for a candidate.
The last “Open Convention” was over 70 years ago: Back then, in 1960, John F. Kennedy prevailed over his opponent within the party, Lyndon B. Johnson, after a spectacular power struggle. Ultimately, however, only one round of voting was necessary. Eight years earlier, several were needed: Adlai Stevenson only emerged victorious in the third round of voting – and lost in the presidential election to the Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower.
If no majority is found in the first round of voting, another factor comes into play: the “superdelegates” – more than 700 party officials who can vote for anyone they like. The Democrats will probably try to avoid such a spectacle if Biden withdraws and will agree on a joint replacement candidate before the party convention. But for now, it looks as if Biden is willing to continue.
