(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . How Biden can leave the race and keep Democrats united — the movie! [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-06-28 President Biden’s performance at the debate shocked and stunned me. As a fan of the President and a believer in his accomplishments and vision, I had convinced myself that the mockery of his abilities was nothing more than right-wing fake news. But Thursday night Biden looked and acted like a feeble old man in front of millions of impressionable viewers. Interestingly, if you were to read a transcript of his words, they would mostly seem smart and on point. But his delivery and demeanor were a disaster. And the optics — of a seemingly weak and distracted elderly gentleman — are what most voters will take away from the debate. So, many pundits and media have concluded that for the good of the country and the best chance of defeating Donald Trump, Joe Biden should end his campaign. I myself am conflicted on this. But how can he be convinced to withdraw? And if he does withdraw, what then? Who would take his place, and how would that candidate be chosen? Many commentators have called for an “open convention,” where the delegates would be free to vote for whomever. This is a recipe for chaos. Multiple potential candidates (we know who they are) would be driven by their ambition to lobby the delegates in a process that could lead to dozens of roll call votes, stretching the convention out to several weeks in an atmosphere of street protests over Gaza and other issues. The animosity could fatally divide the party a crucial 3 months before the election. How can the President withdraw from his campaign and a replacement be chosen while retaining the unity of the Democratic Party that has heretofore been laser-focused on defeating Trump? What follows is my “Hollywood script” scenario of how this might be accomplished. It would make a great movie! Whether this is a realistic scenario remains to be seen. First, President Biden must be convinced to step down from his campaign. No President wants to admit he can no longer do the job, especially one who has waited so long to reach the pinnacle and who has accomplished so much. The key to convincing him is Jill Biden. His wife is the closest person to him and knows him best. Only she, plus some other family members, can successfully undertake the delicate task of explaining reality to Joe. But who will convince Jill? Here the essential players are Barack and Michelle Obama. President Obama gave Biden his chance to run for president by choosing him as his vice president. The Obamas and the Bidens are reportedly close. The Obamas have to have a heart-to-heart talk with Jill, and then with Joe, to remind them that the goal is to defeat Trump and to choose the best candidate to do so. I believe Biden is enough of a patriot and understanding of the dangers of Trump to do the right thing. If they succeed, then the harder task beckons — how to choose a successor. An “open convention” would be a disaster. Here again, Obama is the key player. As the last successful Democratic president, he is respected by all players in this drama. Obama and other Democratic leaders, such as Sen. Schumer, Rep. Jeffries, Nancy Pelosi, and President Biden himself need to get all the credible potential candidates in a room. They need to give some version of this speech: “Ladies and gentlemen, we have a crisis. The existential threat to democracy from Donald Trump needs to be stopped. The President, for good and sufficient reasons, and the good of the country, has decided to suspend his campaign. Now we need a new candidate. An open convention would be a terrible thing for the party and the country. We, the elected leaders of the party, believe that instead, the party should publicly unite, well before the convention, on new candidates for president and vice president. And that all of you should commit to supporting these candidates at the convention and lobbying, with us, all the delegates to nominate these excellent candidates. We know this decision is a blow to your own ambitions. We know each of you thinks you yourself would be the best candidate. But you are all relatively young. You’ll have plenty of time to run again. We implore you to put your ambitions aside in order to save America. And we believe our candidates should be ____________ and ____________.” [Thunderous applause.] Notice I don’t know who these new candidates should be. This is a big problem. I think one of them has to be Kamala Harris. But this is why we have leaders, to make hard decisions. There are other problems with this. Choosing candidates from the top down will seem to some to be anti-democratic. The delegates may have their own ideas. There may be issues with the new candidates raising enough money in a short time. The unchosen candidates may let their ambitions override the good of the country. The whole attempt may collapse in acrimony. But I think such an effort is worth it to avoid worse acrimony and discord from an open convention. And the movie will be fantastic! 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