Article II, Section 2 of the Charter of the Democratic Party states that: “The National Convention shall be the highest authority of the Democratic Party, subject to the provisions of this Charter.”
Rule 13, Section J of the DNC’s Delegate Selection Rules states that: “Delegates elected to the national convention pledged to a presidential candidate shall in all good conscience reflect the s
It is quite clear that the sentiments of some of the people who elected the delegates to the Democratic National Convention have changed in response to increased concerns regarding President Biden's age that were acerbated by the unmistakable signs of aging that were obvious in the first presidential debate. the discussions that have ensued.
As the “highest authority of the Democratic Party", if a majority of the delegates who have been elected to the Democratic National Convention want to reopen the nomination process, Rule 13, Section J gives them a way to do that without the consent or approval of President Biden, the Democratic National Committee, or anyone else.
Near the conclusion of President Biden’s recent news conference, Haley Bull of Scripps News asked Biden, “Your convention is coming up where your make you the official nominee. If they (the delegates who are pledged to him) have second thoughts, are they free to vote their conscience?
Biden replied, “Obviously, they’re free to do whatever they want.” He talked briefly about how he got “overwhelming support” in the primaries, and then added, “And so tomorrow, if all of a sudden I show up at the convention and everybody says we want somebody else, that’s the democratic process.” He then whispered: “It’s not gonna happen.”
Bull then asked, “Even if that means they vote for someone else? And President Biden answered, “Sure.”
President Biden may not have meant to release the delegates pledged to him, but that is what he did, at least unofficially.
President Biden then spent a couple of minutes talking about how he served in the Senate, how he understood the concerns of down-ballot Democrats, how he won election to the Senate from Delaware despite it being a red state at that time, how the polls may be wrong, how the campaign doesn’t really start until after Labor Day, and how much money his campaign has in the bank. He thenasked Bull if she had a follow-up question. She did.
She said, “You, earlier, explained confidence in your vice-president. ((I assume she meant “expressed” – even young people occasionally misspeak.) If your team came back and showed you data that she would fare better against former president Donald Trump, would you reconsider your decision to stay in the race?”
Biden: “No. Unless they came back and said, ‘There’s no way you can win.’ Me.” (He then whispered) “No one’s saying that. No poll says that.” But more and more people are saying that he can't win. And while none of the polls are saying that he can’t win, none of them are saying that he can.
President Biden was correct in describing an open convention as "the democratic process”. I hope his prediction that “It's not gonna happen” is proven wrong.
With the Supreme Court having now given him authoritarian powers in advance and the dystopian vision of Project 2025 threatening to do serious damage to democracy in America, we desperately need the democratic process to play out within the Democratic Party to ensure that the party nominates the candidate who has the best chance of defeating Trump.
To be clear, President Biden deserves our respect and our appreciation for the outstanding work he has done as president. The way that every public appearance by President Biden is now being evaluated by members of the press and the public for signs of aging borders on elder abuse.
To help delegates to the Democratic Convention determine if the “sentiments” ofcitizens who voted in Democratic presidential primaries (or participated in caucuses) this year have changed, a simple two-item poll limited to people who voted in the Democratic presidential primaries should be conducted.
The two questions:
(1) Among all the potential Democratic candidates for president, who do you believe is most likely to defeat Donald Trump in November?
(2) Among all the potential Democratic candidates for president, who do you believe would do the best job as president for the next four years?
If such a poll is conducted, I encourage the delegates to the Democratic Convention to exercise that power and to do so democratically. If no such polling is done between now and the Democratic Convention, I encourage the delegates to do their own research to the best of their abilities, asking those questions of as many rank and file Democrats as possible.
Regardless of whether the Democratic nominee turns out to be President Biden or someone else, let’s hope the delegates to the Democratic National Convention seize this opportunity to score a major victory for democracy in America.
Winston Apple
Originally posted July 3, 2024. Revised and updated July, 17, 2024. Copyright 2024 Gary Winston Apple