Biden is not yet the nominee, so the Republicans have no case. He’s the “presumptive nominee” based on delegate count but the Democrats could change party rules and say that they pick a nominee using any method they want—primaries, convention, lottery, oijia board…..etc.
Biden is not yet the nominee, so the Republicans have no case. He’s the “presumptive nominee” based on delegate count but the Democrats could change party rules and say that they pick a nominee using any method they want—primaries, convention, lottery, oijia board…..etc.
I wish it was that easy. Every state has different intricate rules about replacing the candidates. Ultimately it will likely fail but some states (GA, NV, WI) there will be legal challenges. And I bet the Supreme Court will probably have to at least weigh in through some form
I think you are thinking about what the rules are AFTER the convention.
State parties may have rules about how delegates to the party convention are to vote, but those rules can be changed. Parties ultimately nominate their candidate—voters do not. It’s a fairly recent development that states have primaries and delegates are pledged to the winner of the state’s primary—even as recently as 2008 there was a superdelegate faction that theoretically had enough heft to overrule the popular vote. There was a kerfuffle between superdelegates that favored Hillary and delegates pledged to Obama because he won more via the primaries.
I do think that if Biden refused to step aside, you’d have a point. He’d have to agree to quit and release his delegates—then the party could make rules about how those delegates should vote…some kind of state by state delegate caucus right before the convention, or a more open process at the convention.
Biden is not yet the nominee, so the Republicans have no case. He’s the “presumptive nominee” based on delegate count but the Democrats could change party rules and say that they pick a nominee using any method they want—primaries, convention, lottery, oijia board…..etc.
I wish it was that easy. Every state has different intricate rules about replacing the candidates. Ultimately it will likely fail but some states (GA, NV, WI) there will be legal challenges. And I bet the Supreme Court will probably have to at least weigh in through some form
I think you are thinking about what the rules are AFTER the convention.
State parties may have rules about how delegates to the party convention are to vote, but those rules can be changed. Parties ultimately nominate their candidate—voters do not. It’s a fairly recent development that states have primaries and delegates are pledged to the winner of the state’s primary—even as recently as 2008 there was a superdelegate faction that theoretically had enough heft to overrule the popular vote. There was a kerfuffle between superdelegates that favored Hillary and delegates pledged to Obama because he won more via the primaries.
I do think that if Biden refused to step aside, you’d have a point. He’d have to agree to quit and release his delegates—then the party could make rules about how those delegates should vote…some kind of state by state delegate caucus right before the convention, or a more open process at the convention.