In the run-up to Thursday night’s debate, the general consensus was that Biden would have to convince everyone – especially party leaders and influential pundits – that he was not too elderly and confused to run again as the Democratic candidate.
Biden has more than failed, and Democrats are essentially unanimous in demanding that the party replace him as nominee. The undeniable star of the CNN spin room is California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is in Atlanta as Biden’s surrogate and now looks very attractive to Democrats as a replacement. He’s youthful (sort of), handsome (sort of), polls better than Kamala Harris, and is nationally known for constantly trolling Republican officials like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. He also has a superhuman ability to gaslight and completely distort the truth.
Speaking of Kamala, every time I’ve predicted that Gavin Newsom will be the Democratic nominee for the 2024 election, I’ve been told that won’t happen for a number of reasons. One of them was that Democrats can’t just cast aside a black woman for a luxurious white cis man. But where was Kamala on Thursday night? She wasn’t even in Atlanta. She was at home in Los Angeles when she appeared on the follow-up with Anderson Cooper. But when Joe Biden was in Los Angeles, Kamala’s up-to-date hometown, a few weeks ago to attend the largest fundraiser in Democratic Party history, where was Kamala? She wasn’t at the fundraiser and she wasn’t in Los Angeles.
Do you recognize a pattern?
And according to an opinion piece published in the Sacramento Bee an hour after the debate ended, at least some Democrats are not bothered by Newsom’s identity as a white cisgender man. In the column headlined “It’s time: Democrats must replace Joe Biden with California Governor Gavin Newsom,” the author argues (emphasis mine):
It could be a perpetual Hail Mary play, with Newsom appearing as the savior in times of need, like a handsome Hollywood leading man in a Sorkin-esque script. He could mobilize the delegates and fill them with enthusiasm. It would create a sense of normalcy in our country – even if it is a luxurious, white, cis sense of normality.
It’s clear that the Republican Party is determined to ride its orange horse all the way to the White House, but Trump is still a threat to democracy today, just as he was eight years ago. For Democrats, only a fresh injection of evident vitality and something more than a minimally acceptable level of intelligence can save Americans from a second Trump administration, and prominent Democrats and donors must start calling for it loudly now.
But how is that going to happen logistically? Can it? I researched the DNC’s charter for the 2024 convention in November and found that while it is possible, it would be easiest to do it after the convention ends. I explained it in this appearance on Dana Loesch’s radio show:
After the DNC calls the convention, it is essentially impossible for Biden to be replaced at the convention against his will due to the rules governing pledged delegates. He would have to drop out. However, there is a provision that allows the DNC to replace the nominee for president or vice president after the convention in the event of the “death, resignation, or incapacity of a nominee.” Article IX, Section G of the invitation to tender:
Filling a Vacancy on the National Ballot: In the event of the death, resignation, or incapacity of any of the Party’s nominees for President or Vice President after the adjournment of the National Convention, the National Chairman of the Democratic National Committee shall consult with the Democratic leadership of the United States Congress and the Democratic Governors Association and report to the Democratic National Committee, which shall have the authority to fill the vacancy(s).
The document does not specify how this disability must be certified or who makes the disability determination, but after Biden’s abysmal performance and the panic that is setting in among the Democratic ruling class, it stands to reason that the DNC leadership will interpret this section to allow them to replace Biden. It is impossible for donors to continue to pump huge amounts of money into the party coffers unless there is another person at the top of the ballot.
In this sense, last week Daily Mail reported on a secret conspiracy to replace Biden – with someone other than Kamala Harris – and how that would affect the Democrats and Harris emotionally:
Strategists assume that the Democrats would have to hold a public event to symbolically hand over power to the up-to-date candidate. Biden, Obama, Clinton, Schumer and Pelosi would publicly introduce and support the chosen candidate.
They would also have to convince Harris to support the replacement candidate, which would be a painful experience for someone who is so vehemently defending his political future.
And replacing Biden would also pose a risk for the replacement candidate. If he or she takes the party flag and then loses to Trump in November, their political career may never recover.
All Democrats may face some painful decisions.
How would Democrats convince Harris? I believe Representative Nancy Pelosi will reach back to her roots as a mob boss and have a discussion along the lines of “nice life you had there, it would be a shame if something happened to him.” Pelosi knows where all the figurative bodies related to Kamala are buried, as she is the queen of the San Francisco power structures that produced Kamala, and she will not hesitate to exploit that information if necessary to support her nephew-by-law, Gavin Newsom, win the White House.
