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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

AIBU to ask why they can't just replace Jo Biden as the Democratic candidate for presidency?

13 replies

JoBidenxo · 11/07/2024 10:22

Forgive me for being dim. I don't really understand American politics.
It would seem that Jo Biden isn't well and is not up to the job of being president of USA. Why can't the Democratic Party insist that he is replaced? Obviously there must be a compelling reason, as otherwise they would have done it already.

OP posts:
MulberryBushRoundabout · 11/07/2024 10:24

There isn’t a clear mechanism by which they can just replace him. At the moment his name is on the ticket and the only clear option is for him to withdraw his name. There are murmurings about the party trying to find a way to remove him. But of course they’ll also be concerned about how that plays out in public - eg if they declared that he is not mentally competent, that could lead to his policy decisions in the last months and years being questioned.

afaloren · 11/07/2024 10:33

I think here we have the 1922 Committee (is that what it’s called?) but over there they don’t have anything like that. He needs to step aside himself if they want a new candidate.

EthanofAthos · 11/07/2024 10:43

The committee that runs the democrat party will want to delay slightly more, then persuade him to quit. If he quits now, there is just enough time for the party members to vote on a replacement candidate. If he quits in a few months there won’t be time so the DPC will just choose who they want. The DPC is extremely powerful - they didn’t let any other candidates compete against Clinton or Biden.

divinededacende · 11/07/2024 10:47

In the simplest terms, each state holds primary elections to decide who should be a particular party's candidate for the presidency in the main election. After those primaries, each party holds a convention to formalise the nomination. Each state has a number of electors depending on population size and a candidate gets the vote of all of the electors from that state if they won that states primary. At the convention, each elector casts their votes in accordance with their states result and the nomination is formalised. The convention is a big event with speeches, rallies etc.

The primary elections when there's an incumbent president running for a second term are usually a formality because other people in the party rarely run against a sitting president.

Because the primaries have already happened and the electors are already bound to Biden, they can't easily replace them unless he choses to stand down.

If he choses to stand down, the electors are no longer bound by the primaries and can cast voted for any suitable candidates. The chances are, if he did stand down, the party would try and unite behind a candidate to avoid a messy fight at the convention which wouldn't look good on TV.

It's so different from our system where we vote for a party in our area and the party with the most seats appoints a Prime Minister who is essentially unelected but holds less power because they are accountable to parliament and their party. In America, the position of president is more powerful with less accountability and the process for electing them is very specific and separate form electing their representatives.

JoBidenxo · 11/07/2024 13:56

divinededacende · 11/07/2024 10:47

In the simplest terms, each state holds primary elections to decide who should be a particular party's candidate for the presidency in the main election. After those primaries, each party holds a convention to formalise the nomination. Each state has a number of electors depending on population size and a candidate gets the vote of all of the electors from that state if they won that states primary. At the convention, each elector casts their votes in accordance with their states result and the nomination is formalised. The convention is a big event with speeches, rallies etc.

The primary elections when there's an incumbent president running for a second term are usually a formality because other people in the party rarely run against a sitting president.

Because the primaries have already happened and the electors are already bound to Biden, they can't easily replace them unless he choses to stand down.

If he choses to stand down, the electors are no longer bound by the primaries and can cast voted for any suitable candidates. The chances are, if he did stand down, the party would try and unite behind a candidate to avoid a messy fight at the convention which wouldn't look good on TV.

It's so different from our system where we vote for a party in our area and the party with the most seats appoints a Prime Minister who is essentially unelected but holds less power because they are accountable to parliament and their party. In America, the position of president is more powerful with less accountability and the process for electing them is very specific and separate form electing their representatives.

@divinededacende Thank you so much for this clear explanation.

OP posts:
MrsKwazi · 11/07/2024 13:59

I think (may have this totally wrong but it was on the radio last week) that the money donations are in his name, for him, so can’t be used for anybody else’s campaign and cannot be returned either. Can anybody knowlegable clarify? That is A LOT of $$$$

marigoldandrose · 11/07/2024 14:00

afaloren · 11/07/2024 10:33

I think here we have the 1922 Committee (is that what it’s called?) but over there they don’t have anything like that. He needs to step aside himself if they want a new candidate.

That's only the Conservative Party

afaloren · 11/07/2024 14:02

marigoldandrose · 11/07/2024 14:00

That's only the Conservative Party

Thanks, I didn’t know that! Off to research.

cupcaske123 · 11/07/2024 14:02

I believe that if he steps aside, Harris will automatically take over but she's very unpopular.

BoysBagsShoes · 11/07/2024 23:06

They have to do something…he introduced Zelenskyy as Putin in the NATO press conference today 😬

Biggleslefae · 11/07/2024 23:08

It all looks a bit 'last days of Rome' for the USA😱

MulberryBushRoundabout · 11/07/2024 23:15

MrsKwazi · 11/07/2024 13:59

I think (may have this totally wrong but it was on the radio last week) that the money donations are in his name, for him, so can’t be used for anybody else’s campaign and cannot be returned either. Can anybody knowlegable clarify? That is A LOT of $$$$

This is quite a good summary of the funds issue.

https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/07/09/240-million-who-gets-joe-bidens-campaign-money/74295593007/

Basically, some of it could probably only go to Kamala Harris, a fair bit of it could go to a different nominee. Biden’s campaign spent over a billion last election so there’s plenty more that needs to be fundraised and could therefore be done in someone else’s name.

The $240 million question: Who gets Joe Biden's campaign money if he drops out?

President Joe Biden has $240 million split across a group of accounts, according to Team Biden-Harris. The rules about where each would go vary.

https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/07/09/240-million-who-gets-joe-bidens-campaign-money/74295593007

alwen · 12/07/2024 02:29

afaloren · 11/07/2024 14:02

Thanks, I didn’t know that! Off to research.

Maybe in the UK only the Conservative Party has the 1922 committee, but all parties have "men in grey suits" who can force a PM to step down by withdrawing their support, refusing to continue as ministers etc (that's what happened to Thatcher). It seems a great failing of the US system that Biden, who clearly cannot beat Trump, is more influenced by (selfish and deluded) members of his family and close aides who depend on him for their position, than by any wider disquiet in his party.

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