Prominent Democrats suggest ways to replace Biden as nominee

[RAY BOGAN]

President Biden appears safe as the Democratic presidential nominee, at least for right now. 

The Congressional Black Caucus and Congressional Hispanic Caucus, two of the most powerful groups on Capitol Hill, say they support him as their nominee. 

But there are a growing number of lawmakers who have stated publicly that Biden should drop out before the Democratic convention. If he does, he could release his delegates from their obligation to support him and the party would have an open convention.But some prominent Democrats want to make sure Democratic voters have their say, not just party leaders. Here are what a few suggest. 

Democratic Presidential consultant James Carville said it’s only a matter of time before Biden drops out. He wrote in a New York Times op-ed: “The jig is up, and the sooner Mr. Biden and Democratic leaders accept this, the better.”

He says former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton should host four town halls between now and the DNC in August. He suggests the former presidents choose eight candidates to participate, including Vice President Kamala Harris. 

Carville wrote: “Town halls will give Americans a fresh look at Ms. Harris and introduce them to our deep bench of smart, dynamic, tested leaders. In addition, Democratic delegates will get to further grill and stress-test these leaders in public and private meetings before a formal vote of all the delegates at the Democratic convention.”

Comedian Jon Stewart suggested an open convention with a twist and criticized those who said there isn’t enough time. 

Stewart: “119 days. There are contestants on the bachelor who will get married and divorced between now and the election. We have nothing but time.” 

[RAY BOGAN]

Stewart said candidates who want to challenge Biden should be able to make their case the first day of the convention in Chicago. The winners of round one then go head to head against Biden Tuesday. The party can have a day to think about it on Wednesday and they have their nominee on Thursday, which is when Biden is currently scheduled to accept the nomination anyway. 

Jon Stewart: “You could televise the whole thing. You could call it, I don’t know, the apprentice.” 

[RAY BOGAN]

The reality is if Biden doesn’t step down on his own, it’s highly unlikely he could be replaced. 

The Democratic party’s rules state “All delegates to the National Convention pledged to a presidential candidate shall in all good conscience reflect the sentiments of those who elected them.” 

So technically some could say they couldn’t vote for Biden in good conscience. But Biden has 3,894 pledged delegates and needs 1,968 at the convention to officially become the nominee. So nearly 2,000 would need to defect. 

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