Biden hits fundraising trail in show of strength

RALEIGH, North Carolina: President Joe Biden said on Friday he intended to defeat Republican rival Donald Trump in the November presidential election, giving no sign he would consider dropping out of the race after a feeble debate performance that dismayed his fellow Democrats.

“I know I’m not a young man, to state the obvious,” an ebullient Biden said at a rally one day after the head-to-head showdown with his Republican rival, which was widely viewed as a defeat for the 81-year-old president.

“I would not be running again if I didn’t believe with all my heart and soul that I could do this job. The stakes are too high,” Biden said. Several of the party’s most senior figures, including former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, said they were sticking with Biden. “Bad debate nights happen. Trust me, I know. But this election is still a choice between someone who has fought for ordinary folks his entire life and somebody who only cares about himself,” former Democratic President Barack Obama wrote on X.

The New York Times editorial board, which endorsed Biden in 2020, called on him to drop out of the race to give the Democratic Party a better chance of beating Trump by picking another candidate.

The Biden campaign on Saturday said it had raised more than $27 million between debate day through Friday (June 28) evening, but questions remain about whether the debate performance will hurt fundraising, at least in the short term.

If Biden were to step aside, the party would have less than two months to pick another nominee at its national convention, which starts on Aug. 19 -- a potentially messy process that could pit Kamala Harris, the nation’s first Black female vice president, against governors and other officeholders whose names have been floated as possible replacements. There is a process for doing so, but it would be messy.

Biden has spent the last several months accruing nearly 4,000 Democratic delegates by winning primary elections in US states and territories. Those delegates would normally vote for him, but the delegates can vote with their conscience, which means they could throw their vote to someone else. If Biden “releases” his delegates by stepping aside, there could be a competition among other Democratic candidates to become the nominee.

There would likely be a free-for-all of sorts between the Democratic heavyweights vying for the job. Candidates would have to get signatures from 600 convention delegates to be nominated. There are expected to be some 4,672 delegates in 2024, including 3,933 pledged delegates and 739 automatic or superdelegates, according to Ballotpedia. If Biden steps down after the August convention, the 435 members of the Democratic National Committee would choose a new candidate. The members would meet in a special session to select a nominee.

To nominate a candidate to replace Biden on the ballot, that person would have to have the support of a minimum number of DNC members -- perhaps around 60, though the exact number would be determined by the DNC’s rules committee, which would lay out the rules for the proceedings before they started.

The DNC would likely hold its meeting in Washington and the votes would be counted there. Ballots would be coded, signed and collected by hand. If a vote were to happen very close to Election Day on Nov. 5, when it was not possible to meet in person, then it would likely be virtual.