A University of Minnesota Political Science professor is weighing in on the likelihood that Democrats would try to remove President Joe Biden from the ticket, after concerns about his health.
President Joe Biden is trying to reassure his supporters, after a poor performance, but Democrats are still worried about having him at the top of the ticket in November. And they have few realistic options at their disposal, at least as far as party rules and historical precedent are concerned.
"When are we going to see elected officials sort of come out and say that President Biden should step aside? So far, we are not seeing that," says University of Minnesota Political Science Professor Katherine Pearson. "We are seeing elected officials defend the president and I think that is really where to look to see if there'll be any change."
Pearson says it would be a complicated process to replace the president on the Democratic ticket at this point in the race.
"I really look at the concern of voters in both parties who are not enthusiastic about their candidates and sort of question, you know, how did we get here," she asks.
So far, President Biden has said he will continue his campaign.
The last sitting president who voluntarily chose not to run for another term in office was Lyndon B. Johnson, who dropped out of the 1968 race paving the way for Minnesota's own Hubert Humphrey, Johnson's Vice President, to enter the election. Humphrey didn't participate in the primaries but was still chosen by a large majority of delegates at the convention.
Humphrey ended up losing to Republican Richard Nixon.
The biggest difference between 1968 and 2024 is that Johnson dropped out in January after narrowly winning the New Hampshire primary, well before most of the delegates were chosen between March and July. When Johnson stepped aside, there was still plenty of time for voters to choose another candidate.
Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota ended his presidential primary bid in March and Phillips said at the time he would encourage delegates that he won to vote for Biden instead.
Should Biden drop out now, there is no way for Democratic voters to chose another candidate ahead of the Democratic National Convention. Instead, they would be choosing a candidate different from the one they pledged votes to in their state primaries, something that is allowed under Democratic Party rules, but has never been used.
Should Biden decide after the convention to step aside, then Democratic National Committee leaders would be responsible for choosing a candidate to replace him.
Want to get caught up on what's happening in SoCal every weekday afternoon? Click to follow The L.A. Local wherever you get podcasts.
Follow KNX News 97.1 FM
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | TikTok