Five Strategic Reasons the D.N.C. Should Replace Biden
The media seems too scared to say this… so I’m gonna say it.
If they want to win in November, the most strategic thing the Democratic National Committee (DNC) could do right now is replace Joe Biden with a different, stronger candidate for president.
To be clear: Do I think Joe Bien has a very slim chance of victory? Sure. But do I think he will win? No, I really don’t think he will.
It’s a sad testament to the state of things that I’ve had at least a dozen people tell me in hushed tones that they really hope one or both candidates passes away before November… because A) that’s genuinely a possibility with how old these guys are and B) they see that as the only way out of this nightmare voting scenario.
But it’s not. The DNC still has time to choose a new candidate. The convention isn’t until August and I believe the American people would be fully onboard with a last-minute pivot to a new candidate.
Here are five compelling reasons I believe the DNC should name a new presidential candidate even at this late notice:
It would build trust with voters at a time when very few of us believe the government is at all interested in listening to or representing the people.
It’s telling that, to so many of us, it feels more realistic to hope that our party’s candidate will die of natural causes before the election than it is that our own party will listen to us about who we want to vote for.
It is a tragic state of affairs for a party running on the claim that they are the keepers of democracy.
Democrats want to win our vote? They need to prove to us that they’ll protect democratic systems. That they will listen to the people they represent and then do what we are asking them to do. This is the perfect opportunity for them to do that.
I believe that if the Democrat party pivoted to give the people what they want (a different candidate), it would earn them the votes of millions of people who currently, and rightly, feel like neither party has any interest in representing them.
It would negate the hyper-specific, anti-Biden fear-mongering that’s been central to Trump’s campaign and thus, pull over hesitant voters who were leaning toward Trump simply due to their fear and/or hatred of Biden.
Trump’s team has put [nearly] all his eggs in the “Biden is destroying democracy” basket of campaigning. If Biden were to drop out of the race, it would completely disrupt that primary campaign messaging and potentially win over voters who saw Trump as simply a slightly better alternative to Biden.
Will Trump pivot and begin attacking the new candidate? Of course. But Trump has spent so much time and energy (and money) aiming attacks specfically at Biden that the damage will be significant.
Just imagine how long it will take for his campaign and followers to replace all their anti-biden flags, shirts, signs, hats, etc.
Giving the “double haters” (voters who hate both candidates) a better option would massively increase voter turnout.
I can’t tell you the number of committed voters I’ve spoken to in the last six months who are considering abstaining from voting this November. These are involved and politically aware people who just hate both their options and can’t stomach the thought of casting a ballot for either candidate.
They will either stay home on November 5 or they will cast a ballot for a third party candidate. Either way, these folks are much more likely pulling votes from Biden than Trump. And if they stay home, they will also pull votes from down-ballot Democratic candidates which will be massively detrimental to the wellbeing of the country.
Giving them a candidate they don’t hate (even if it’s not someone they love) would likely re-activate those voters and significantly increase voter turnout nationwide.
In a moment when one political party has been completely steamrolled by the will of one petulant old white man, this is an opportunity for the Democrat party to show people that they are the party of the future—that they are committed to a multi-ethnic democracy and willing to change with the times.
This may sound harsh, but I believe Biden’s decision to run for a second term is one of the most selfish political moves I’ve ever seen. For a single person to put their ambition, their desire to retain power, above the good of their country… I just can’t fathom a selfishness that deep. And that the Democrat party is aiding and abetting that selfishness? Prioritizing Biden’s desire to run over the future of our democracy? It’s not shocking but it is shameful.
Giving us a new, better candidate would prove to us that the Democrats are still committed to the vision of America they sold us on in 2008. That they’re not owned by the rich old white men who have run our country since its inception. That they’re not owned by one person but accountable to us all.
It would prove that that the Democrats are actually different than the Republicans. Because right now, it really doesn’t seem like they are.
Choosing a new candidate is the clearer path to victory than buying into a sunk cost fallacy and willfully going down with a sinking ship.
Joe Biden’s poll numbers are getting worse by the day. And that’s among people who are still planning to vote! Sticking with a candidate everyone knows is likely lose is just… a losing strategy, no matter how much money has been spent on him.
It’s time to take a clear-eyed look at the situation and acknowledge that the initial path the Democrats chose is not working. Good leaders face the facts and deal with them. They don’t continue to insist that their plan is working when everyone can clearly see it’s not.
The future of our democracy is at stake this November, and yet the Democrats are running a candidate whose presence on the ballot makes people not want to vote.
As far as I can tell, Donald Trump is the only person who benefits from Joe Biden remaining the Democratic nominee.
I know conventional wisdom states that the incumbent will always have an advantage, but that was before. This is now. Trump burned up the old rule book during his first term in office along with the rest of our democratic norms. So it’s time to design a strategy based on our present reality rather than one from back when the world was different.
No one wants to choose between Joe Biden and Donald Trump (or RFK jr. for that matter). So I believe the first party willing to pivot and run a better candidate will win. The Republicans have shown time and again that they’re too weak (or scared? or selfish? or greedy?) to stand up to Trump, so the question becomes:
Are the Democrats brave enough to run a candidate we don’t hate?
*If your next question is, “well, then who should they nominate?” Here is my shortlist of potential candidates who are generally not-hated by moderates and Democrats even if aren’t beloved by them. None of them are perfect (they’re politicians after all) but, IMO, all are better than our current options and they all have some level of name recognition to help with a last-minute run.
Cory Booker
Gretchen Whitmer
Hakeen Jeffries
Amy Klobuchar
Pete Buttigieg
Beto O’Rourke