DNC insists virtual nomination still on despite growing calls against Biden candidacy

The Democratic National Committee says it still plans to nominate President Joe Biden ahead of the party’s convention in spite of his recent wobbles.

The plan, announced before Biden’s disastrous June 27 debate, involves making him the Democratic nominee via virtual roll call ahead of the convention, where candidates are traditionally nominated. Questions have swirled about the move and the state of Biden’s candidacy for the last two weeks.

“The planned virtual roll call is moving forward, as we announced,” a DNC spokesperson told the Washington Examiner. The Biden campaign also said the plan is moving forward.

Originally, the virtual roll call was needed to skirt an Ohio law that could have kept Biden’s name off the state’s ballots if he wasn’t nominated by Aug. 7, as the Democratic National Convention isn’t until Aug. 19-22 in Chicago. The virtual move would circumvent that problem, even if it sapped drama from the event itself.

Ohio has moved to change its law, but the DNC’s plan has come back into focus as a growing number of Democrats are calling for Biden to drop out following his debate performance.

“Counter to popular belief, the rules of the Democratic Party do NOT require that pledged delegates vote for Biden at the convention,” Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) wrote in a July 5 post on X. “Party rules require delegates’ votes, ‘reflect the sentiments of those who elected them,’ at the time the delegates cast their ballots.”

Such speculation would, theoretically, cease if Biden becomes the nominee within the next few weeks.

The internal machinations of the DNC include a rules panel meeting on July 19 and a credentials committee meeting on July 21. That second date is the earliest that Biden could be virtually nominated, with the latest date believed to be Aug. 7, the original deadline date was set to circumvent the Ohio law.

Biden insists he’s staying in the race, and most Democratic delegates appear to be sticking with him at this point. Biden secured roughly 99% of delegates in a noncompetitive party primary this spring, and needs only a simple majority of them in order to secure the nomination.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution surveyed 50 of Georgia’s delegates this week and found that nearly all of them still back Biden. Still, enthusiasm is not running high in the party.

“I don’t think anything will tamp down speculation at this point given the consistent and growing sentiment among Democrats that we need another candidate,” Democratic strategist Tom Cochran said. “It’s certainly a distraction, but the palace intrigue is too much to resist for almost everyone, especially the possibility of a reset in the campaign with a new candidate.”

“Energy, optimism, and hope are what we need to win the election, and right now those are pretty low,” Cochran added.

The exact date that Biden would be nominated virtually has not been announced. If the virtual vote did not take place as planned, some politicos are speculating about a possible convention floor fight that could turn chaotic.

“If Democrats want a nominee who isn’t named Joe Biden, then they need to have a delegate fight in Chicago, and they need to start preparing now,” conservative columnist Jim Geraghty wrote.

The last contested Democratic convention took place in 1968 in Chicago, the same city hosting this year’s edition.

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Biden began this week with a letter to Congress and an appearance on MSNBC’s Morning Joe program designed to solidify his status as the Democratic nominee. The effort briefly stemmed the tide of calls for him to step down, but by Wednesday, the likes of George Clooney and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) were speculating about Biden’s future.

“It’s up to the president to decide if he is going to run,” Pelosi said during her own Morning Joe appearance. “We’re all encouraging him to make that decision because time is running short.”