Joe Biden he withdrew from the race and gave his endorsement to the vice president Kamala Harris for the November elections, inviting the Democratic Party to support her in a united way Chicago convention next August 19th. The president’s number two is the most obvious and inevitable choice, being his natural heir, even in the event of death or illness during the presidency. But the path for Harris, from here to the convention, is anything but easy and on her path to the candidacy for the White House there are several obstacles..
First, there is the August 7 deadline, which is Ohio’s deadline for registering candidates. In June, the state’s governor, Mike DeWine, signed a law that moves the deadline to September, but since the measure will actually take effect that month and not before, Democrats want to speed up the process. Second, between now and August 19, Biden would have to secure the support of the entire party, so that he could propose to the 3,894 delegates gathered in Chicago to vote for her. At that point, the only problem would be choosing her vice president, also at the event.
If, instead, there were strong and open contrasts on a Harris candidacy, we risk the scenario of a ‘brokered’ convention, that is, open, where various candidates would compete in addition to the vice president. Among these could be the governors of California Gavin Newsom, Michigan Gretchen Whitmer and Pennsylvania Josh Shapiro, who is also given as a pole position for the vice presidency. The names of other governors are also circulating: JB Pritzker (Illinois), Tony Evers (Wisconsin) and Andy Beshear (Kentucky).
These would have to compete for the delegates won by Biden in the primaries and if no one gets through to the first round, the 700 super delegates, that is, party leaders and elected officials, would come into play. The scenario of an open convention is the most complex because it risks splits, divisions and chaos and above all alienating the vote of women and African Americans, the hard core of the Democratic electorate. This hypothesis of a mini-primary in Chicago is also suggested by former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.