The party cannot force Joe Biden to resign as presidential candidate. The Democratic party rule has made replacing a candidate without his consent almost impossible. He can only be persuaded to step down due to his health condition which was evident during the presidential debate.
However, as of June 30, the top Democrats firmly announced that they have no plans of making Biden step down, instead, they are ready to give their full support. This was rather surprising as before this time, some Democrats openly showed their disapproval of Biden moving forward as the presidential candidate for the Democratic party.
Despite what the Democrats may want, the main factor in determining Biden’s stay or withdrawal is himself. He alone can decide to step down before or after the official nomination. And from the look of things, Biden has no plans of stepping down.
What could the Democrats do about Biden?
Before the presidential debate, the Democrats did not have a plan B for a presidential candidate as Joe Biden was running unopposed with almost all the delegates supporting his second run. The most that the party can do at this point is to convince Biden to step down using his health a an excuse.
Since the official nomination is in August, it is believed that there is still time for President Biden to change his mind and take a bow. If President Biden drops out of the presidential race before the convention, interested candidates will stand in a contested convention for Biden’s delegates. Otherwise, the 700 superdelegates of the Democratic party may decide to step in to vote as they are allowed to vote only if no one wins a majority of pledged delegates on the first ballot.
Biden could also step down after nomination meaning the Democratic National Committee party would have to elect an eligible candidate to run against Trump. This does not need a contested convention as the party has the right to elect a candidate if the already nominated candidate drops out after the nomination.
There is, however, an important set of persons that can determine if Biden makes it to his second term or not are the delegates as they are free to vote for whom they choose to. This means if the delegates have changed their mind concerning President Biden’s rerun, they can decide not to vote for him, giving Trump the advantage of winning the election.
However, suppose Biden moves forward with the election and eventually wins, he might decide to step down before the official Inauguration into office, leaving Vice President Kamala Harris to assume the office of the President directly.
