CHQ Chairman Richard A Viguerie has been predicting for months that Democrats, desperate to retain power, would replace failing Joe Biden with another candidate for President – more than likely with Michelle Obama.
How the Democratic Party chiefs might go about ditching the candidate they forced upon their restive voters without a lot of creative lawyering, bending or breaking their own Party Rules and outright lawbreaking was a mystery – but Biden finally saw the writing on the wall and decided to drop his bid for reelection while continuing to occupy the White House.
Notice that Biden is quitting because Democrat powerbrokers have concluded he can’t win, rather than admitting that he is incapable of fulfilling the duties of President of the United States, so what comes next?
Can Biden anoint someone as his successor by pledging his preferred candidate (apparently Vice President Kamala Harris) his delegates to the Democratic Party’s National Convention?
Probably not, even Democrats have to follow the rules once in a while.
The New York Post previously reported that Democratic National Convention delegates were openly discussing what would happen at the August convention if President Biden either refused to step aside or dropped out of the race — pointing to a “good-conscience loophole” that lets them vote for a new candidate of their choosing.
According to the NYP report, DNC delegate Elaine Kamarck briefed other delegates Friday morning in a Zoom call that the apparent “loophole” allows for what amounts to an open convention by letting convention-goers bolt if they no longer have a “good conscience” about their pledged choice determined by primaries and caucuses.
Setting aside the hypocrisy and hilarity of power-hungry Democrat oligarchs having any conscience, particularly a “good” one, the “good conscience” loophole is fraught with challenges to a smooth transition from Joe Biden to Kamala Harris or whoever the Democratic Party insiders and megadonors might choose.
The DNC’s rules state: “Delegates elected to the national convention pledged to a presidential candidate shall in all good conscience reflect the sentiments of those who elected them.” Kamarck claimed the part of the rule that states delegates “reflect the sentiments of those who elected them,” saying they could technically decide that Biden is no longer representative of the people’s choice.
Some Democrats fear that Vice President Kamala Harris, Biden’s apparent replacement, could fare even worse due to the fact that her approval ratings have trailed her Boss’ through much of their administration.
So, how could Democrats get rid of both Biden and Harris?
California Democrat powerbroker Rep. Zoe Lofgren floated having former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton vet candidates to replace President Biden on the Democratic ticket Friday before battling it out in a “mini-primary.”
“I think kind of a mini primary, maybe a vetting hosted by former presidents, including Obama and Clinton, would be helpful and help focus the attention,” the congresswoman continued according to reporting by the NYP's Victor Nava.
“I don’t think we can do a coronation, but obviously the vice president would be the leading candidate,” Lofgren disingenuously argued.
Democrats loathe anything remotely resembling actual democracy so having Party powerbrokers vet and decide their candidate for President fits nicely with their preferred way of doing things.
But it still doesn’t account for the mess that would be created at the Democratic Party Convention in Chicago now that Biden has stepped aside.
The plotters who pushed Biden out now have to arrange what amounts to a “brokered convention” as opposed to an “open convention.”
If Democrats followed the “good conscience” plan advocated by DNC delegate Elaine Kamarck they would have an “open convention” which might devolve into a messy on TV free for all.
To head off the “open convention” scenario the Democratic National Committee had announced that it would hold a virtual roll call to formally nominate Joe Biden before in-person proceedings begin. The August 5th virtual rollcall was intended to smoke out any anti-Biden votes before the Convention formally convened.
The “virtual rollcall” is probably now in doubt, but if it is conducted according to the current plan, it will put on the hotseat any delegates inclined to oppose Kamala Harris and go off the Obama-written script.
If they follow the plan advocated by Rep. Zoe Lofgren, they will have a “brokered convention” in which – now that Biden has stepped aside – the Democrat powerbrokers decide behind closed doors who their nominee will be, potentially passing over the unpopular Kamala Harris for someone insiders view as more electable – like Michelle Obama.
However, Democrats have less than a month to arrange a “brokered convention” during which time candidates opposed to Harris would have to declare and line-up support, the “mini primary” must be arranged, and the deal cut as to who the candidate – other than Harris – is going to be.
The conventions and their rules are controlled by the political parties, noted the Associated Press. The Democratic National Committee could convene before the convention opens on Aug. 19 and change how things will work, but that isn’t likely unless one candidate – other than Vice President Harris – has a majority of the DNC inclined to manipulate the rules to their advantage.
There’s also the question of where Biden’s campaign war chest goes. It will likely devolve to Vice President Kamala Harris, handicapping anyone who might challenge the oligarch-designated successor, like Gavin Newsom or Gretchen Whitmer.
Now that Biden has abruptly left the race, conservative groups have suggested they will file lawsuits around the country questioning the legality of putting Harris’s name on the ballot. Even though Biden won all the Democrat primaries, he still hasn’t been formally nominated by his Party’s national convention, so it can be argued he is not the Democrats’ official nominee yet and if he is never nominated at the Convention there is no impediment to putting up someone else.
Some key battleground states have specific deadlines and criteria for replacing a candidate on the ballot, but for all states there is a practical deadline to replace a candidate, which is the date by which printers must start producing the ballots. That practical deadline may have been one of the deciding factors in Biden’s decision to throw in the towel before the Democratic National Convention.
Some conservative election experts say that even if there is no legal path to keeping a Democratic nominee other than Biden off the ticket, conservatives should pursue them anyway to sow confusion, as Democrats did in their attempts to keep Donald Trump off the ballot during the Republican primaries. However, it remains to be seen whether such an effort could overcome procedural hurdles, such as the standing to sue.
While we are always in favor of sowing confusion among our enemies, a more urgent issue to be addressed is Joe Biden’s continued capacity to fulfill the duties of President of the United States. Speaker Mike Johnson issued a statement on Saturday saying if Biden is unable to run, he’s unable to govern and should resign from the presidency if he foregoes his reelection bid. We agree with Speaker Johnson, and we urge Congress to press for his immediate removal from office due to his incapacity to fulfill the duties of the presidency.
2024 Election
Donald Trump
Joe Biden campaign
brokered convention
virtual roll call
Kamala Harris
open convention
Biden drops out
Barack Obama
Democrat insiders
Michelle Obama
Zoe Lofgren
mini Democrat primary
Democrat National Committee
Joe Biden campaign war chest
Gretchen Whitmer
Gavin Newsom
Comments