In the end, Joe Biden decided to step aside. He was convinced that it was the best thing for him and for the United States. He will not run for another term in the November elections. What led him to step back were “reasons of opportunity,” so to speak, linked to the worsening of his psychological and physical health.
The trigger was the live TV debate on June 28, in which the incumbent president was almost unanimously judged to have given a less than brilliant performance, showing worrying hesitations and pauses. This created very strong pressure to induce him to resign, which Biden tried to resist with all his strength. But when the media and political pressure was followed by the turning off of the taps by the financiers, who began to freeze their donations to the Dems, the issue became more worrying. Biden’s “gaffes” did not stop, such as when, during the NATO summit in Washington, in front of all the leaders he introduced the president of Ukraine by calling him Putin, correcting himself with a joke only later.
After the attack on Trump, the tycoon’s electoral campaign seems to be flying. The Republican has changed his tune, appearing a little less aggressive. Now, with Biden’s step back, what has changed? On paper, we could say, Trump already has victory in his pocket. But is that really the case? The tycoon shows a certain nervousness. And he goes on the attack: “If he can’t run, he can’t govern either.” Which is absolutely false, because no one has declared the president unfit. Instead, it was Biden’s free decision to step aside, not as president but as a candidate.
The Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution defines the line of presidential succession and addresses the protocol to be adopted in the event of a Presidential incapacity due to manifest disability or illness.
Trump’s mystification would suggest that the tycoon is nervous, worried. Yet, given the Democrats’ difficulties, he has the wind in his sails (and victory almost in his pocket). So why is he so worried? Is he really afraid of Kamala Harris, who, for a change, he called “crazy”? Or is he afraid of something else?
What happens now?
Technically, the power to decide who will be the candidate lies with the delegates of the Democratic convention, which will meet from August 19 to 22 in Chicago. It could be an “open” convention, in the sense that multiple candidates will compete for the nomination, or not, in the sense that everyone will align themselves with the indication given by Biden (Kamala Harris). It is not a given that the vice president will run in place of Biden, but on closer inspection it seems like the least risky and most sensible choice, if only to avoid dangerous splits within the party, two months before the vote. The only certainty is this: the Democrats have lost a year. If the process for changing candidates had started last year, the presidential election next November would have been a completely different thing. Everyone lost out, and the blame, first and foremost, lies with those leaders who have now acted more or less openly (Obama and Pelosi first and foremost) to force Biden to step aside.