This week’s news will surely go down in history: Assassination attempt! VP candidate JD Vance! Classified documents lawsuit dismissed! Biden infected with COVID-19! And if the news that the Democratic National Committee (DNC) is holding a rules meeting didn’t grab your attention, that’s totally understandable.
In the weeks leading up to the Democratic National Convention, you may have seen Zoom calls mentioning the highly unusual and controversial plan for the convention to formally nominate Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee for 2024. With everything going on, this may be the most important news story of the week, or even of the election.
This story begins with yet another partial failure of one of our democratic rituals: Ohio law requires that the secretary of state be notified of candidates’ nominations. At least 90 days Before every election. Every presidential election year, this is an issue because Long-standing arrangementWith one major party holding its convention in July and the other in August, the deadline is in danger of being missed, so the Ohio State Legislature has passed legislation each time extending the deadline until September. tradition, And it has been happening like clockwork for decades.
But this year, instead of passing a clear bill to extend the deadline, the Republican-controlled Ohio Legislature decided to embarrass Democrats. to add It was a poison pill they knew Democrats would never agree to. The bill died in the regular session, so Democrats had to come up with a workaround: change the rules and meet virtually in late July or early August to hold a roll-call vote to formally nominate Biden.
Ultimately, Ohio passed a clean bill during a special session of the legislature, extending the deadline until August 31. June 2This meant that Biden could be nominated at the normal convention, leading everyone to assume that the idea of a Zoom convention had been dropped.
But the Democratic National Committee decided to go ahead with Biden’s early nomination, saying it had no other choice. Under Ohio law, bills passed in a special session don’t go into effect until September 1, leaving Biden open to lawsuits from Republicans and the Trump campaign. This has angered Democrats, who see it as just a power play by the Biden team, despite the president’s support. invitation A challenge to him at the convention would make Biden’s nomination a fait accompli.
It remains to be seen, but the effort to replace Biden is still in full swing. While they are being very careful about what they say publicly, it is hard to imagine that Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries and many other senior party leaders aren’t discussing this issue among themselves. I would be surprised if they were discussing anything else.
The current head of the House, Adam Schiff, is due to retire soon. Senate Candidate— Did he call for Biden to step down without consulting party leaders on Wednesday? Or Barack Obama? I couldn’t express my full support. Was it a coincidence that he said that to the former vice president after his disastrous debate defeat? Of course not.
Then on Thursday afternoon, Obama’s frustration became public. The Washington Post.
Two-thirds of Democrats are now I want to replace Biden.I think we’re seeing a similar trend among congressional Democrats, who are hesitant to speak out publicly because they know that anything they say will become a Republican attack ad if Biden ultimately refuses to drop out of the race.
The ostensible reason for the rule change — that Republicans might sue to keep Biden off the ballot — doesn’t make much sense. The risk is Nearly zero After the Ohio State Legislature passes a special law to put Biden on the ballot, the Ohio courts will remove Biden from the ballot. Biden was never going to win Ohio before Senator J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) joined the Republican ticket, and he’s not going to win now. And any attempt to remove Biden from the Ohio ballot will only backfire for the Republicans, especially after the populist arguments they made. Opposed to disqualifying Trump.
So the Biden team’s efforts to change the rules are a tacit admission of weakness. Support or opposition to the nomination over Zoom calls has become a litmus test for who supports Biden and who opposes him.
An open rebellion by as many as 90 Democrats was put down at the last moment. Extreme Measures And he promised not to schedule a vote on Biden’s nomination for at least two weeks.
A majority of Democrats appear to think Biden should be replaced. Pelosi and other party leaders are coordinating an effort that includes carefully calibrated public statements, à la Schiff, and slick leaks, à la Obama. Don’t mistake the lack of a public stance for a lack of action. Nothing is over until this is over.
Chris TrucksHe is an appellate lawyer and registered Republican, and served as Southern California chairman for John McCain’s 2008 primary campaign.
