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The Democratic Process

I'm seeing a lot of concern trolling on the right about how Harris being the presumptive nominee is unfair to the close to 15 million Democrats who voted for Biden in the primary. My own take on this is that since Harris is Biden's VP, the assumption was that if something happened to him, Harris would take over. Well, something happened to him. In fact, technically Biden was never the nominee, just the assumed nominee, as no one will be nominated until the convention (or the virtual convention which will take place earlier to meet several states' filing deadlines).

So I'm asking our conservative SW members, if the way it was done wasn't "democratic," what would you suggest? If nominating Harris at the convention won't be good enough, then nominating anyone else who isn't even in Biden's administration, like Newsom, Whitmer, Shapiro, Pritzker, Beshear, Kelly, etc. won't be good enough either. There isn't time to redo the primaries. So what would you suggest? With all the complaining about this, I haven't seen a single suggestion of how the Democrats could have a "democratic" nomination process.

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Illyria · M

The Republicans are only bringing this up in the first place because they know that Kamala has a far FAR better chance of beating Trump in November than Biden. That was their whole campaign strategy: keep Biden in the race. Now he's gone, and they're scared.

SumKindaMunster · 51-55, M

I'm sorry but this is a biased take on what happened. Nothing suddenly "happened" to Biden other than it became clear he was not able to carry himself through a debate that he should have been able to do in his sleep.

He was forced out, he didn't take a look at himself and decide, it was clear he needed to resign or they possibly were going to go forward with removing him.

So combine that with the closed primary where nobody but Biden was allowed on the ballots, then suddenly after 7 months of we are going with Biden, Biden is our guy, Biden is sharp as a tack...never mind all that, here's Harris!

It doesn't seem very "democratic"

As an aside, I wouldn't go out and purchase Harris 2024 bumper stickers just yet. My belief is she has until the convention to get this campaign off the ground or you may see an open convention.

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LeopoldBloom · M

@SumKindaMunster At least it's not the endless string of anti-Biden articles that the so-called "liberal media" has been pushing for the last year.

And yeah, right now we're in Harris' honeymoon period. Right when it starts to die down, we'll have the Democratic convention, which will give her the boost that the GOP convention didn't give Trump. Of course there will be people who don't like her, just as there are conservatives who don't like Trump. I'm not concerned about the pro-Hamas crowd or the cretins who think "both sides are the same." They can vote for the Russian stooge Jill Stein if they like.

SumKindaMunster · 51-55, M

@LeopoldBloom Well good, I'm glad your pleased. I see it differently but understand we are not politically aligned.

dancingtongue · 80-89, M

Technically, when you vote in the primaries you elect delegates to that party's convention. While the candidate's name is on the ballot, you are electing the group of delegates who have pledged to vote for him. Whether that is first round, three rounds of voting, or forever -- the rules will vary by state. So when the candidate they are pledged to is no longer a candidate, they are free to exercise their best judgment on how to proceed representing those voters who elected them. Obviously the opinion -- and the campaign funds -- of the candidate they were elected to support is going to weigh heavily in their decision making and Biden announced his support of Harris. Consequently the vast majority of the delegates have said they are voting for Harris. They are still representing those who voted for them on the Biden/Harris ticket.

LeopoldBloom · M

@dancingtongue That is correct. And under Democratic party rules, delegates are supposed to vote for the candidate they're pledged to, unless they cannot do so in good conscience. This is why one option floated before Biden withdrew was for his delegates to rebel and nominate someone else, which they were legally empowered to do.

MarkPaul · 26-30, M

According to this latest nonsense from the Republicans, no candidate should have the right to exit the race. The Democrats may have been petty and backstabbing in arguing for Biden to drop out, but in the end he made the decision and he took the action. They literally want to force him into staying on the ticket he has now chosen to leave. Just wait until they want to dump Insurrectionist-Cry-Baby-trump and his weird sidekick, JD Vance. Then, they will have a change of tune.

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Illyria · M

@MarkPaul The rumour is that Trump is on the verge of dumping Vance. So much for no candidates having the right to drop out.

LeopoldBloom · M

@Illyria I'm only hearing this from Democratic sources, so I suspect the origin is that the guy is obviously such a mistake, they have no choice but to dump him. The problem is that Vance is a puppet of Peter Thiel and Elon Musk, and they're going to be upset if he's replaced. Also, Trump and Trump Jr. really like him, apparently.

Illyria · M

@LeopoldBloom Well I hope he stays. He’s a liability 😊

MartinII · 70-79, M

The selection of a candidate isn't really democratic anyway, since only supporters of the relevant party can vote. A better criticism might be that it was in some way unfair to parachute Harris in without giving others a chance. But no prospective alternative candidate has complained; Harris is at least an elected VP; and anyway, as you say, how could a satisfactory contest have been organised in the circumstances?

Vin53 · M

@MartinII Not to mention that every other potential candidate that had a puncher's chance of landing the nomination has already endorsed Kamala.

Illyria · M

@MartinII Exactly. If other figures in the party were demanding a primary, perhaps the process wouldn't be cut-and-dried. But the Dems have done the best thing possible: united strongly around another candidate in double-quick time.

LeopoldBloom · M

@MartinII Also, as the VP, everyone who voted for Biden in the primary did so with the understanding that Harris would take over if something happened to him. She also gets to take over his campaign war chest because she's a signatory to the same bank accounts. Any other candidate would have to start from scratch. Hey, I think I've just figured out why the Republicans are so upset on our behalf.

Jackaloftheazuresand · 26-30, M

Take the L is the suggestion but really the point of this tactic isn't to give the democrats an out. It's supposed to convey a message

Democrats don't care what the people want.

Just because they can come up with a plausible or even justifiable explanation for why they have to throw her in that doesn't mean that is their actual reason for doing so. My suggestion is to slink away and let a different group who better stands for American interests take their slot against Trump, we don't need democrats. If they want to be the good guy they act like then they can make room for a real good guy. If you're someone who only cares about beating Trump at any cost including pressuring Biden to step down because you think Kamala will do better then what's stopping you from doing the thing that would absolutely devastate him AND his movement.
I'm telling you this as someone who likes him. Democrats will never truly defeat us because democrats are not the savior that is meant to, they created us and they don't even know it

Bumbles · 51-55, M

Funny how the Dems aren’t complaining. It’s another example of false outrage.

LeopoldBloom · M

@Bumbles It's concern trolling.

Ynotisay · M

This is the phase where they just out throw out whatever nonsense they can to see what sticks. So far they're not even in the realm of reality so it's just noise. They have nothing. Won't slow them down though.

Tastyfrzz · 61-69, M

There's no guarantee that Trump will make it to the election either. His own party tried to assassinate him. It waa even discussed by Steve Bannon.

[media=https://youtu.be/TwuhyAI3Tio]

NoThanksLeon · M

Do you know the real reason why Kamala Harris was 'chosen' by Democrats to replace Biden? Because she is qualified? Oh no, no, no. Here's why...
It's because the campaign money raised in the past 4 years by the DNC (some $250M) must go to either Biden or Harris. That is campaign finance law.
Since Biden is gone, that leaves Harris by default. The Democrats had no real choice.

LeopoldBloom · M

@NoThanksLeon For once we agree. Not on Harris’ lack of qualifications - she’s certainly more qualified than JD Vance - but you’re absolutely correct that only Harris can take over Biden’s campaign finances and infrastructure.

MrSmooTh · 31-35, M

I don't care who the democrats put up there. Im voting for Trump. Unless Jesus Christ himself comes down and runs, my vote isn't changing.

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ElwoodBlues · M

@MarmeeMarch The links are in both my posts.
HINT: they begin with "https" see below.

You seem to have missed it when Ron DeSantis ordered the release of Epstein documents subject to a judge's review. The judge released a bunch in early July. Turns out Trump was identified as "Doe174" in the redacted versions.

Yes, Trump appears repeatedly in Epstein's phone logs and flight logs as well as in the testimony of r@ppe victims.

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/sure-looks-donald-trump-disguised-032415418.html?_guc_consent_skip=1721746832

Now we know who Trump was "protecting" here:

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Fa8393 · 36-40, M

Bidens poll and popularity was very low before he stepped down. His own party made him step down even Obama was not on his side .

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LeopoldBloom · M

@MarmeeMarch I never said it was illegal for Trump to fart and fall asleep in court. But it does show that he either has no respect for the courts, or no control over his bowels.

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LeopoldBloom · M

@MarmeeMarch You're confusing him with Trump, and for the opposite reason.

SatyrService · M

Harris?Sanders 2024!

LeopoldBloom · M

@SatyrService Harris isn't going to pick another old guy. Which is why Gov. Cooper is out. The top contenders are Kelly and Beshear. Beshear might have the edge because he's term limited anyway, while Kelly could be replaced with a Republican at the next election. Shapiro is a possibility as he might bring in Pennsylvania.

SatyrService · M

@LeopoldBloom i thought an older guy would be a good match,, for older people
my real thought is that he w was SO Popular, even with young voters, before the DNC tossed him out, he could have beaten Trump
i KNEW Clinton could not

LeopoldBloom · M

@SatyrService If we weren't stuck with the obsolete, slave-era Electoral College and had a national popular vote, Clinton would have won.

Sanders didn't have enough votes to win the nomination. There's no way he would have won against Trump, who would have tarred him as a communist. Trump would have won the popular vote against Sanders.

Biden actually polled well among older Americans, possibly because they're afraid Trump will end Social Security. It will be interesting if Harris picks up that demographic.

LordShadowfire · 46-50, M

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LeopoldBloom · M

@MarmeeMarch Biden is the only one who proved he could beat Trump.

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