In principle, Biden was going to be the Democratic Party’s candidate for the presidential elections. However, after her resignation, Vice President Kamala Harris is the most eligible to take office, although she is not the party’s nominee.
Aside from the Vice President, other potential candidates could be in with a chance. They include Gavin Newsom, the California governor, and Josh Shapiro, the governor of Pennsylvania.
Why would the Democrats want to replace Biden?
After the presidential debate held on Thursday, June 27, rumors started circulating that the Democratic party was considering the idea of replacing President Joe Biden with another candidate after what was seen as a poor performance during the debate, where he was at times incoherent and appeared to lose his train of thought.
The age of 81-year-old President Biden is becoming a major talking point particularly after his performance during the debate. Unsurprisingly, fear has crept in the party members as they question Biden’s ability to continue or even win a second term. This poor performance of Joe Biden gave the Republicans an opportunity to mock the Democrats.
Has the incident at the debate given Republicans an edge to win the forthcoming election? This will be determined on November 5, 2024. Will it be possible to replace Biden with another candidate? There is a great doubt.
Why it will be almost impossible for the Democrats to replace Biden
Primaries victory: During the just concluded Democratic Party Primaries, Biden won the highest number of delegates with no good second placed candidate. This has secured his nomination ahead of the Democrats’ National Convention in August.
Biden’s withdrawal from the race: Some Democrats might have hoped that Biden would decide himself not to run, but so far there have been no such announcements and it doesn’t appear likely there will be.
Democratic Party candidates that could replace Biden
Vice President Kamala Harris: Harris would have been the natural choice after Biden, however, she is seen as lacking in popularity; and due to some public missteps she made in Biden’s White House, it is considered she would struggle in a head-to-head against Trump.
According to the latest FiveThirtyEight average of national opinion polls, Harris had an approval of slightly over 39% of voters and just under 50% disapproval.
Gavin Newsom: Newsom, the governor of California might be considered by the Democrats in their search for a replacement. Gavin has been building his national profile and many Democrats believe it’s to position himself as a presidential candidate in 2028 or sooner as the case may be.
Last year, Newsom was accused by the Republicans of running a “shadow” campaign to enable him to run the presidential race if the president pulled out due to his age. Some Democrats fear however that some of the problems faced by Californians would see Newsom struggle nationally.
Josh Shapiro: The Pennsylvania governor, Josh Shapiro can be considered to replace Biden due to his popularity and political victories. During his election in 2022, he trounced a Trump-endorsed candidate by more than 14%. Aside from this, he gained the nation’s heart when he handled the collapsed highway overpass in June 2023 and to everyone’s surprise, the road was back in operation within two weeks.
