Re: If Biden Loses Televised Debate, Can He Be Replaced?

If President Biden is viewed as the loser of Thursday night's presidential
debate against former President Donald Trump, it may accelerate months-long
speculation that he could be replaced as the Democratic presidential nominee
in 2024.
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Back in mid-February, New York Magazine considered the possibility of
replacing the elderly 81-year-old president as the nominee. "From a political
perspective, the idea that Biden might be dumped from the ticket is extremely
far-fetched," New York Magazine wrote. "But technically it is possible,
though increasingly complicated, right up to Election Day."
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ABC News pointed out two types of delegates existed in the Democratic Party:
pledged delegates, who are allotted to candidates based on the votes in state
primaries but while assumed to be loyal to that candidate, are not legally
required to support the candidate, and "superdelegates," who become delegates
from their jobs, whether they are DNC members or political office holders.
Those delegates, too, are not legally bound to any candidate.
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"In most states, delegates are released from their obligations if a candidate
withdraws from the race," NY Magazine explained.
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The Hill reported that Democratic senators are insisting that speculation
Biden could be replaced is nonsense. One senator told The Hill, "There's no
way in hell that's true. Not a chance in hell that's true. I don't know what
to say." A Democratic consultant added, "If people mention that, if it's
talked about in settings, even if somebody says we need to have an
alternative, it's not really taken as something that seriously could happen.
You're in a conversation with somebody, somebody says, 'Do we have a backup?'
Something like that. Because, honestly, (Vice-President) Kamala Harris is not
really seen as ready for prime time."
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The last time an incumbent president was denied his party's nomination
occurred in 1884, when the GOP's Chester Arthur lost the nomination to his
Secretary of State, James G. Blaine. Blaine narrowly lost the election to
Democrat Grover Cleveland.
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New York Magazine opined that the only likely way that Biden would not be the
nominee would be if he voluntarily stepped down, an unlikely possibility, but
if he did the nomination would almost certainly go to Vice President Kamala
Harris, as "any other choice would not only infuriate Harris and her
supporters; it would also retroactively label Biden's first decision as party
leader in 2020 as a mistake."
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Earlier this month, Business Insider offered these possible replacements for
Biden should he not be the nominee: Kamala Harris, governors Gavin Newsom
(D-CA), Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI), Roy Cooper (D-N.C.), and Wes Moore (D-MD),
and senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.)