DELEWARE—After increasing pressure from corporate media, billionaire donors, and high-ranking political colleagues, President Joe Biden announced Sunday, July 21, on X that he will not seek the 2024 Presidential nomination of the Democratic Party at its national convention in August.
“My fellow Democrats, I have decided not to accept the nomination and to focus all my energies on my duties as President for the remainder of my term,” Biden wrote on X. “My very first decision as the party nominee in 2020 was to pick Kamala Harris as my Vice President. And it’s been the best decision I’ve made. Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year. Democrats — it’s time to come together and beat Trump. Let’s do this.”
President Biden represented Delaware for 36 years in the U.S. Senate before becoming the 47th Vice President of the United States in 2009 and then the 46th President after a highly contentious 2020 election bid. He received 14.5 million votes in the 2024 Primaries to clinch the Democratic nomination for president to run against the 45th President of the United States, Donald J Trump.
Although Biden endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, from his Biden-Harris ticket to replace him, it will be up to the delegates in an “open convention” to officially nominate the 2024 Democratic Party Presidential Nominee.
In a press release on Sunday, Washington State Democratic Party Chair Shasti Conrad called on Vice President Harris to lead the Democratic presidential ticket. If she succeeds, Harris will be the first woman and woman of color to be President of the United States, and hence leader of the free world.
“Today, I call on his delegates to support Vice President Kamala Harris to lead our Party and our country,” Conrad wrote in her statement. “As the leader and steward of the Washington State Democratic Party, I have listened to the overwhelming consensus of Democrats in Washington state who are excited to support Vice President Harris as our standard bearer.
“Vice President Kamala Harris has spent the last four years championing and pushing President Biden’s successful agenda. She knows this work is heart-led work and her effective advancement of the Biden-Harris Administration’s priorities position her as the only viable alternative to President Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket. Her lived experience as a Black and Asian American woman has inspired millions of people, myself included, to see ourselves occupying the highest positions of power and leadership. We are a big-tent party and Vice President Harris is the only national figure capable of unifying the full diversity of our Party to lead us to victory in November”
Democratic Congressman Rick Larsen (WA-02) wants to remind constituents of the accomplishments of the Biden Administration over the last four years and that the “stakes in this election are high and the choice is as clear as ever.”
“I am proud of the accomplishments we have achieved,” Larsen wrote in a statement. “We lowered healthcare costs for seniors and ensured the government can negotiate lower prescription costs for families. We passed the PACT Act to ensure healthcare for veterans that were exposed to toxic burn pits. During the longest stretch of low unemployment, we delivered 15.8 million jobs by passing the largest investment in repairing and building the next generation of roads, bridges and highways. And we are the only party fighting to restore reproductive freedom in this country.”
Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), added that the “Democratic Party needs a standard bearer who can deliver our economic message—continuing the historic accomplishment of building more economic opportunities for working class people and a focus on lowering costs.”
President Biden, in his official statement wrote: “It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President. And while it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term.”
The president did say that he will be addressing the nation later this week on his decision to drop out of the race.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) July 21, 2024
With Vice President Harris now front and center as the next potential Democratic Party Presidential Nominee, her record on immigration as the country’s Border Czar and that as a prosecutor in California may hurt her chances in Chicago at the Democratic National Convention.
“On behalf of the American people, I thank Joe Biden for his extraordinary leadership as President of the United States and for his decades of service to our country,” Vice President Harris wrote on X. “I am honored to have the President’s endorsement and my intention is to earn and win this nomination.”
Besides his poor performance against Trump in the June presidential debate, polling for Biden has been abysmal to say the least. The latest RealClearPolitics polling aggregate average has Trump up 3 points against Biden nationally—47.7 to 44.7 percent.
Trump is currently leading Biden in the traditional battleground states of Arizona, Nevada, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia. After Biden’s poor debate performance in June, new battleground states formed—Virginia where an Emerson poll has Trump up 2 points as of July 15, and Minnesota which Biden won by 7 points but is now tied according to the latest Hill/Emerson poll from June 18.
Polling between Trump and Harris has her closing the gap to a 1.9-point margin but still has Trump in the lead.
DCCC Chair and local Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (WA-01) shared in a statement that “this fall, Democrats will take back the People’s House to build on his [Biden’s] legacy and defend our rights, our freedoms, and our democracy for generations to come.”
Lynnwood Times Commentary
With a statement released by President Bill Clinton on Sunday, there is speculation of a Harris/Clinton ticket in the works for the Democratic National Convention.
President Bill Clinton in a statement on X released on Sunday wrote: “We are honored to join the President in endorsing Vice President Harris and will do whatever we can to support her.”
Statement from President Clinton and Secretary Clinton pic.twitter.com/R7tYMFWbsu
— Bill Clinton (@BillClinton) July 21, 2024
President Barak Obama shared that “Joe Biden has been one of America’s most consequential presidents” in his official statement.
“We will be navigating uncharted waters in the days ahead,” Obama wrote. “But I have extraordinary confidence that the leaders of our party will be able to create a process from which an outstanding nominee emerges. I believe that Joe Biden’s vision of a generous, prosperous, and united America that provides opportunity for everyone will be on full display at the Democratic Convention in August.”
Pundits for months have been speculating that Michelle Obama may vie for the nomination. An interesting note is that nowhere in Obama’s statement does he mention Vice President Harris nor President Biden’s endorsement of her.
According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted in early July, has Michelle Obama as the only Democratic candidate to beat Trump in a head-to-head matchup.
With Trump eying an electoral blowout in November, the latest move by the Democrats may be to protect down ballot candidates in the House and Senate.
According to The Hill, they are predicting that the Republicans have a 61% likelihood of winning the U.S. House of Representatives with the only seat flipping in Washington state that of Marie Gluesenkamp Perez to Joe Kent in District 3. If you recall, Democrats won that seat from Jaime Herrera Beutler (R) who was primaried in 2022.
Currently Republicans hold 220 of 435 seats in the House.
The Hill projects with a likelihood of 78% the Republicans gaining control of the U.S. Senate. With 33 of the 100 Senate seats up for grabs, Republicans are hoping to capitalize on Republican unity and Trump’s Agenda 47 to flip several seats to gain control with 52 seats.
Currently no Senate seats in Washington state are projected to flip to the Republicans, a likely relief for Senator Cantwell.
