USA Time to go? - Biden under pressure after TV debacle
Just four months before the US presidential election, calls for the Democrat to withdraw from the race are growing louder following Joe Biden's disastrous performance in the TV duel against Donald Trump. "Mr. Biden is no longer the man he was four years ago," writes the New York Times in a drastic opinion piece about the 81-year-old US president. "There are leading Democrats who are better able to present clear, convincing and forceful alternatives to a second Trump presidency." The US broadcaster CNN says: "Dear Joe, it's time to go."
29.06.2024, 18:39
SDA
The "Washington Post" puts it less brutally, but is also clear: "Mr. Biden can't be forced to do something he doesn't want to do. What he can do is what many Americans are doing this weekend - wondering if he's up to the task." That major liberal media outlets are urging the president to throw in the towel is noteworthy. Other media outlets have struck a similar tone in their opinion pieces, with the conservative "Wall Street Journal" writing: "The debate has shown that the president is clearly incapable of staying in office for four more years."
Quo vadis, Democrats?
However, the decision on whether Biden should step down is not made by the US media, but by the 81-year-old and his team. Biden appeared combative after the debate and assured that he was up to the task. In reality, however, the coming days are likely to be decisive. This is when polls will show whether Biden's weak performance will be reflected in the voters' minds. The front row of the Democrats is still united behind the incumbent - Biden is receiving support from his predecessors Barack Obama and Bill Clinton. But there is likely to be a lot of rumbling within the party.
So far, polls suggest a neck-and-neck race between the Republican Trump and Biden in November. Should Biden actually decide to leave the field, a Democratic victory in the presidential election is by no means certain. The party would first have to unite behind an alternative candidate before the party convention in Chicago in August. The presidential candidate will be officially chosen at the convention. Theoretically, it is possible that the party could change its mind at short notice and take Biden out of the race. But who could replace him?
The possible candidates
* Kamala Harris: The 59-year-old Vice President would actually be the natural successor. But Harris is unpopular in the USA. During her time as Vice President, she remained conspicuously pale - even paler than Vice Presidents already are. But unlike other possible alternatives to Biden, she is well-known on the national stage. It would be an affront to the party to pass her over for the succession. Should Biden really resign, it would be important for the party to present a united front and not publicly disintegrate over the candidate issue.
* Gavin Newsom: The 56-year-old governor of the liberal US state of California has been eyeing the White House for some time. During the election campaign, for example, he fought a TV duel with Republican Ron DeSantis when the latter was still in the running for his party's presidential nomination. The eloquent and well-connected Newsom, once mayor of San Francisco, has aggressively backed Biden after the debate debacle. His name is currently the first to come up - alongside Harris - when the question of an alternative to the 81-year-old arises.
* Gretchen Whitmer: The 52-year-old is governor of the state of Michigan. In recent years, she has also tried to make a name for herself on the national stage. The lawyer has a long career in politics and is part of the leadership circle of the Democratic Party. In the 2020 presidential election, she was on Biden's shortlist as a candidate for the vice presidency. Because of her relatively strict coronavirus policy, she has become the enemy of many Republicans. It also made headlines that several men who had planned to kidnap her were arrested in 2020.
* Michelle Obama: Calls for the former First Lady to enter the race for the White House are constant. The popular wife of former President Barack Obama has always rejected this and insists she has no interest in doing so. Nevertheless, for many in the Democratic Party, the 60-year-old is a kind of shining light who could turn the tide. After the disastrous debate, the Obamas' phone must have started ringing again. It is highly unlikely that she would suddenly enter the race.
There are other names circulating - such as that of the Governor of Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro. The name of the governor of Maryland, Wes Moore, also keeps coming up. However, these Democrats are even less well known nationally than Whitmer or Newsom, for example. And at least for now, there are no signs of Biden dropping out of the race. The most likely person to convince him of this is his wife Jill. After the debate, however, she said clearly: "There is no one I would rather have sitting in the Oval Office right now than my husband."
