Those who study politics for a living are just as baffled as you may be by what’s unfolding inside the Democratic Party over whether President Joe Biden should continue his reelection bid.
“There are sometimes challenges to sitting presidents through the primary process, and we saw this, this time around, with a handful of folks who thought that they would do a better job than Joe Biden,” said Oakland University Political Science Professor Dave Dulio. “But at this point in time, nothing that I remember, nothing that I’ve studied matches what we’re seeing play out in the Democratic Party right now.”
The calls began last month after Biden’s debate performance against former President Donald Trump.
But Biden is not backing down. He’s promising to remain at the top of the Democratic ticket.
“As a pollster, I don’t see a path that the Democrats can win the presidency if Joe Biden is their candidate,” Mitchell Research & Communications, Inc. President Steve Mitchell said.
If Biden ultimately decides to end his campaign, it would be easier for his party if he did so before the Democratic National Convention, which begins on Aug. 19 in Chicago.
Each state has its own set of rules for a presidential candidate to get on the ballot.
In Michigan, a key battleground state, presidential candidates must be certified by their party no later than 60 days before the election. That deadline is Sept. 6.
Federal law requires ballots to be delivered to military and overseas civilians 45 days before the election.
According to a Michigan Secretary of State spokesperson, the Bureau of Elections is limited in its ability to remove a candidate’s name once ballots are printed.
“We have never seen anything like this in American history before, and it’s absolutely fascinating to watch,” Mitchell said.
Trump officially accepted the Republican nomination for president Thursday (July 18) on the final night of the Republican National Convention.
The general election is Nov. 5.