The Democratic Party likely does not have enough time to replace President Joe Biden with another candidate for the November election if the 81-year-old drops out, two analysts have written in Time magazine. The party is said to be scrambling after Biden’s “disastrous” debate performance against Donald Trump last week.
During the debate, a seemingly frail and confused Biden struggled to speak clearly, mixed up his words and appeared to lose his train of thought completely on several occasions.
Biden’s lackluster performance has reportedly caused panic within the Democratic Party and led to numerous major donors calling for him to be replaced on the party’s ticket for the November 5 election.
However, according to the two analysts writing for Time, it would be “unprecedented” for any other candidate to be able to step into the breach in such a short time.
While Biden has shown no intention of dropping out, the outlet noted that if he does, the “nomination process in such a rushed contest may prove to be so divisive that the party could be worse off.”
The Time article pointed out that at this point in the race there would be “no clear frontrunner” for the party’s nomination. Vice President Kamala Harris trails Trump in the polls “far worse” than Biden himself.
The outlet observed that while there are other “appealing choices,” such as Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, these candidates also come with “drawbacks” and would have great difficulty building out a full-fledged campaign so late in the race.
Meanwhile, the future of Biden’s own reelection campaign remains uncertain. The president and his team have stressed that they have no plans to drop out of the race and publicly the Democratic Party has also reaffirmed its support of the aging president.
Privately, however, media reports suggest that the party’s top brass, including former President Barack Obama, are concerned that Biden will not be able to beat Trump in November and have suggested holding an open contest to decide a new candidate at the upcoming Democratic National Convention in August.