President Joe Biden will receive the official nomination from fellow Democrats for a second term in a virtual vote as planned in late July, ahead of the party’s national convention, despite calls for him to step aside, four people involved in the process told Reuters.
Democrats and Republicans typically use their national conventions to officially nominate their candidates, but President Joe Biden will be nominated weeks before his party gathers for its Democratic National Convention in Chicago on August 19 – a plan that was announced long before Biden’s shaky June 27 debate.
Exactly how the early nominating process will work is unclear, however, said the state party officials and national Democrats interviewed for this story.
Reuters spoke to more than 20 of the 4,500 delegates who will be involved in the nomination. Eight told Reuters they either had not heard about what senior Democrats have described as a “virtual roll call” or they had not heard any details on it recently. One said the only communication they had received lately had been about the in-person Convention.
UNDER PRESSURE
Biden, 81, is under continued pressure and scrutiny from some lawmakers, donors and activists to drop his reelection campaign in the wake of his disastrous presidential debate performance, which renewed questions about his mental fitness.
But Biden campaign officials said they expect that Saturday’s assassination attempt on Republican rival Donald Trump will lower the pressure on Biden to step aside.
Biden insists he is not going anywhere and says he is best equipped to beat Trump.
Pushing forward with a virtual nomination could speed up Biden’s formal nomination and stave off potential challengers to his candidacy. But the confusion surrounding the virtual nomination process reflects the chaos within the party, as senior leaders focus on salvaging Biden’s candidacy, sources said.
EARLY NOMINATION PLANS
The early nomination was needed to deal with an Ohio law that could have kept Biden’s name off ballots in the state if he wasn’t nominated by Aug. 7, prior to the convention in Chicago.
Democrats are still moving forward with the plan even though Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed a bill in late May to secure Biden’s spot on the state’s ballot after it passed the Republican-controlled state legislature.
An online or virtual vote means no chance of a live convention floor battle in Chicago that could embarrass Biden and throw the campaign into chaos.
With Reuters inputs
