Biden Drops Out, Harris Vies for Nomination

This week, all eyes are on the Democratic National Convention as Joe Biden has withdrawn from the 2024 Presidential Election after questions emerged about his ability to win or serve at his age. Big questions still have to be answered about how the Democrats will select a Presidential candidate going into the convention.

Already, two different camps have emerged. The first, headlined by Joe Biden and the Clintons, seeks to treat delegates pledged and bound to Biden as delegates to Kamala Harris, handing her the nomination and not opening the convention. The other camp, promoted by activists and the Obamas, wants to unbind the delegates and open the convention.

The DNC and the media seem committed to making the convention run smoothly, and with a quarter of delegates already making public statements of support for Harris, it’s hard to see a situation in which the Obama-led faction wins the day.

For Democrats, perhaps that is the best, as there are already pending questions on whether Kamala Harris has access to the Biden-Harris bank account. Campaign finance laws are unclear in this situation, and at least one Republican lawyer plans to sue the Harris campaign if they try to transfer money.

In addition, while the top of the ticket may avoid an open nomination process, the selection of the Vice President will be open to delegates, putting increased pressure on Kamala Harris to make a strong pick as early in the convention as possible.

It will be an interesting week to see how the Democratic party responds to the turmoil of the weekend and surging polls for Donald Trump across the country.