Biden has put forward Harris’ name but… is there an interesting twist yet to come in the US presidential election?

New Delhi:After the deadly attack on former President Trump in the US, Democratic Party candidate and President Joe Biden withdrew from the race so close to the elections. Many speculations had gained momentum since the presidential debate between Trump and Biden. Trump’s increased ratings after the attack had already made us realize this. After withdrawing his/her candidature, Biden also put forward Harris’s name, although the presidential candidature is not that easy for Harris, there are many technical complications in it. Who will be Biden’s alternative? This will be formally confirmed in the Democratic Party’s National Convention in mid-August, when the party delegates will formally vote for the candidate. The kind of reactions that came from former President Barack Obama and Democratic National Committee Chairperson Jamie Harrison after Biden’s announcement make it clear that even though Kamala Harris has President Biden’s support, at present the big leaders of the party do not want to give at least a hint of such support. The Democratic Party’s rule book says that delegates would like to reflect the sentiments of the people who elected them. Let us tell you that Biden has the support of most of the primary delegates.

There are many technical issues
However, technically the delegates are free to choose their candidate. International affairs expert Amitabh Singh says that technically Biden is still the candidate from the Democratic Party. Biden has to first formally be relieved of the candidature, only then can there be talk about other candidates. Actually, before 1967, it used to be that the top leaders of the party had a lot of influence, but now many things are written in the rule book, which are being taken as guidelines. Even now, the Democrats who are elected from the four thousand primaries vote on who will be elected president, in such a situation that option is still open and it is clear that after being formally released as a candidate, the delegates are free to take their decision whether to choose Kamala Harris or any other candidate.

How will the candidate be selected?
If any leader of Biden’s party feels that he/she can prove to be better than Kamala Harris, and Harris may be weaker than other potential candidates against Trump, then he/she will have to get the signatures of 600 delegates. After this, he/she will be nominated as a candidate, after which he/she will have to face Kamala Harris. This means that any candidate will have to get the majority of the approximately 3900 primary delegates of the Democratic Party in his/her favor. In such a situation, if many delegates get the nomination, and no one gets the majority, then a ‘brokered convention’ will be organized. In which delegates can vote in several rounds so that a candidate can be selected.

It is also worth noting that the last time a brokered convention was held was in 1952 when Illinois Governor Adele Stevenson repeatedly said that he/she did not want to contest the election, but gave a strong speech at the convention. After no winner emerged in the first round, D Eisenhower not only secured the nomination but also defeated Stevenson. One such option being considered is that a pre-convention virtual vote can also be held, as the President has very little time left for campaigning.

The fund case is in Harris’s favor
According to the papers filed on May 31, the party has so far collected $91 million from the Biden Harris campaign. Experts say that since the donors had technically given this money for the joint campaign of Biden and Harris, after Biden withdraws his/her candidature, the issue is also about returning this fund to the donors. Now that there are just over 100 days left for the election, if someone else becomes a candidate in place of Harris, then there is a danger of campaigning with zero balance. This is the reason why Harris has already started a campaign to get funds from donors on her social media profile. However, the thing in favor of Harris’s candidature is that since the fund account is in the name of Harris as well as President Biden in the Election Commission there, in such a situation, if any other candidate comes, then he/she will have to start fund raising from the beginning.