President Biden will apparently cease his campaign for a second term, according to a letter posted to the President’s Twitter account Sunday afternoon. The letter declared the President would conclude his campaign, and a followup message posted to the account appeared to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris.
While Biden’s mental fitness for office has been obvious to many voters since his middling 2020 campaign, his disastrous debate against Donald Trump in June left no doubt. Voices at last emerged from among Democrats calling for a changing of the guard.
But the apparent conclusion of Biden’s campaign, however, leaves more questions than answers:
Biden was in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware at the time the letter was posted on the President’s X account, Sunday afternoon. It is well known Biden’s social media presences are managed by others. Most strikingly, however, Biden’s White House aides only found out about the decision via social media. A message posted less than 48 hours earlier declared that Biden would remain in the race and campaign to win.
Speculation has run wild on both sides of the aisle as to whether the decision to conclude the campaign was genuinely Biden’s. Why didn’t staffers know ahead of time, and why, especially, didn’t the President tell the American people directly, as the last Democratic President not to seek a second term, Lyndon Johnson, did?
One of the largest moments in political history and the President is NOWHERE to be found — again, who is running the country? https://t.co/2cvHCmN4DJ
— Josh Arnold (@JoshArnoldOH) July 22, 2024
Biden has not made an appearance since departing for Rehoboth Beach Friday. As of Monday, both “where is Biden” and “proof of life” were trending topics on social media sites.
Complicated Inventives
Despite losing in the polls to Donald Trump, the layers of incentives for the Biden camp are far more complicated. Biden has no personal incentive to step down, with a still-brimming campaign war chest and, oddly enough, still occupying the highest office in the land. Meanwhile, donors have millions in sunk costs to the Biden campaign fund. The Biden family, too, has no other path to political power, save Joe remaining in the hot seat.
Yet apart from a likely loss to Donald Trump in November, Democrats, especially those with continued national ambitions, have every incentive to get him out.
Was the President himself the one who made the decision?
Chaos in the Democratic Party
Meanwhile, a parade of names have been floated as potential replacements over the previous weeks. They’ve come in the midst of a coordinated media barrage calling on Biden to step aside, and a cavalcade of statements from high-level Democrat officials and operatives, some with aspirations of their own, have been pressuring the President to step down.
And, the sharks are circling for who could stand in his stead: Michelle Obama, Pete Buttigieg, Sherrod Brown, Hillary Clinton, and other names have surfaced. Chaos at the highest heights of the Democratic Party has presented an opportunity for those with new, or renewed, ambitions to grab the brass ring.
Ohio stakes
What is most striking for Ohioans is that, if Biden is genuinely ceding the nomination to a successor, Ohio democrats will have had no vote whatsoever for the party’s nominee.
As it stood before Sunday, Biden’s name was only appearing on the November general election ballot thanks to Republican Governor Mike DeWine and a special legislative session. Biden’s camp missed the Ohio ballot due to the Democratic National Convention falling within 90 days of the general election. The August 7 deadline is nearly two weeks before the DNC.
Sen. Sherrod Brown, whose name has surfaced in successor discussions, has been quiet throughout the Biden campaign meltdown, but finally called for Biden to step aside Friday, two days before the letter appeared on Biden’s twitter account.
Brown was silent on supporting Biden’s mass amnesty proposal and silent after Biden’s disastrous debate performance. In the Senate, however, Brown was a reliable Biden ally, voting with the President 98% of the time, according to Five-Thiry-Eight.
Source: Five-Thirty-Eight
Brown offered a brief statement on Twitter after the letter was posted to Biden’s account.
I thank President Biden for his years of committed service to the country we love — as Senator, as Vice President, and as President.
— Sherrod Brown (@SenSherrodBrown) July 21, 2024
Brown will evidently endorse Kamala Harris, per the Columbus Dispatch. Should she eventually receive the Democratic nomination, Brown does fit the profile of a potential VP pick.
Brown’s opponent, Bernie Moreno, said Brown’s silence has shown his complicity with top Democrat officials in concealing Biden’s mental decline. Moreno then called on Brown to join him in calling on Biden to also resign from the Presidency.
If Joe Biden is unfit to run, he is unfit to serve. I am formally calling on Joe Biden to resign the Presidency because his continued presence in the situation room is a national security threat. I hope Senator Brown will join me. pic.twitter.com/6i3zsFTbHl
— Bernie Moreno (@berniemoreno) July 19, 2024
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