Who will be the Democratic candidate? Who has the best chance of taking Biden’s place?
President Biden has announced he will step aside, leaving Democratic voters wondering who in their party has the best chance of defeating Donald Trump.
The pressure on President Joe Biden reached a level that he could not withstand, leading him to announce that he would drop out of the race and allow another candidate to lead the Democratic ticket in November.
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In late June, Biden’s poorly perceived performance at the presidential debate, where Trump was seen as the winner despite him spouting numerous known lies, caused alarm bells to go off among Democratic movers and shakers. After last weekend’s assassination attempt against Trump galvanized the Republicans into unity and led to a bump for the former president in the polls, high-level leaders within the Democratic Party began to turn on President Biden, leaving him with few allies.
The question that has been floating around is now front and center: Who could replace Biden as the Democratic presidential candidate?
This year’s Democratic primary was not very competitive. With no major challenger entering the race against Biden, he easily secured the votes necessary to win the nomination at the convention in August. However, now the party will have to decide whether they go with Vice President Kamala Harris or host an open primary where more than one candidate is allowed to make their pitch to the delegates.
Who could replace Joe Biden to face Donald Trump in 2024 presidential election?
The name of Vice President Kamala Harris crops up the most as a possible candidate. The advantage of naming Harris is that she would be able to spend the $92 million that has already been donated to the Biden-Harris ticket. There are worries, however, that she is even more unpopular than Biden and that her close association with the Biden Adminstration could hurt her chances.
Nevertheless, some supporters believe these numbers could be turned around before election day, as a recent poll showed her down relative to Donald Trump but with better numbers than President Biden. Harris also performed better with independent voters than Biden, and whereas Biden would lose this group (based on the poll), Harris could win.
Democrats that have a chance against Trump
One voice that many Democratic strategists don’t often consider is that of Texas Senator Ted Cruz, a Republican and Trump supporter. Senator Cruz thinks that the Democrats have an ace up their sleeve. After the debate on his podcast ‘Verdict,’ he said that because of Biden’s “disastrous” performance, he believes “the odds have now skyrocketed.”
“I believe the odds are north of 80% that the Democrat Party will remove Joe Biden from ticket and replace him…. with Michelle Obama,” he said.
This isn’t the first time he has put this idea on his podcast. In September last year, he considered the scenario of the former First Lady parachuting in at the August convention as “perhaps the most likely and most dangerous.” The Obamas still hold support among much of the Democratic base, and with independent voters. Senator Cruz understands how popular Michelle is and views her candidacy as a “serious danger” to Republicans should she decide to enter the race.
The Texas leader isn’t the first to think she could easily win the presidency if she ran in 2024. Sports commentator Stephen A. Smith said on Kevin Garnett’s podcast, KG Certified, that she would win “hands down.” However, he acknowledged a fact that Michelle Obama has made clear many times in the past. “Now, that obviously is not gonna happen. She doesn’t seem to have an interest,” he added. As a matter of fact, she has said on several occasions that she has no intention to run for president.
Other names being tossed around
The Democratic Party is full of governors will little national name recognition, which could be a major benefit in this election, who hold high levels of favorability in their home states. These include California´s Gavin Newsom, Kentucky’s Andy Beshear, Michigan’s Gretchen Whitmer, Illinois´JB Pritzker, North Carolina´s Roy Cooper, and Pennsylvania’s Josh Shapiro. Currently, all of these leaders poll worse than Trump. Still, Democratic strategists chalk that up to voters not being familiar with them, and that if one were to lead the ticket, they would have time to define the candidate to the people and attract greater support.
Those with a higher national profile who could launch their own bid include Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, who ran in 2020, and Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown.