Biden’s virtual nomination dulls Democratic convention drama

Democrats’ announcement that President Joe Biden will be named their nominee for president virtually has deflated what little drama could have been expected at the Democratic National Convention.

Biden easily racked up the delegates needed to become the party’s standard-bearer by March, but the continued protest votes against him in Democratic primaries and his perceived weakness as a general election candidate left open the door to the remote possibility of a surprise challenge and even brokered convention when the party meets in Chicago in August.

On Tuesday, the Democratic National Committee opted to nominate Biden virtually in the coming weeks to ensure he makes it on to the ballot in Ohio, a state with a filing deadline two weeks before the convention, but the knock-on effect of its decision is that the event will now be purely ceremonial.

Democrats had brushed off the possibility of a brokered convention in the days leading up to the DNC announcement. The president trails former President Donald Trump in most swing state polls, in part due to concerns over his age but also an enthusiasm gap by progressive voters upset with his handling of Israel’s war in Gaza.

“No, no. No one is talking about contingency plans for President Biden,” said former House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD). “President Biden is going to be our nominee.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) said of the notion that Biden could be replaced.

That does not mean party leaders are not concerned with his election prospects, however. The denials come amid reports of a behind-the-scenes Democratic “freakout” as surveys continue to show Trump gaining support with five months to go before Election Day.

Meanwhile, there remains the possibility of major protests at the convention related to the Israel-Hamas conflict, which have dogged Biden nearly everywhere he goes since the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks.

Those are likely to take place in some form unless Biden, who has stood with Israel despite drawing red lines on its planned invasion of Rafah, makes a major shift in his stance toward the war. The only question is the size and intensity of them.

The DNC has faced criticism for its decision to nominate Biden through a virtual roll call. A date for doing so has not been announced, but it must occur sometime before Aug. 7.

Jeffrey McCall, a media critic and professor of communications at Depauw University, called it a “gutless” move designed to “shield the president from scrutiny and to try to protect him from gaffes.”

“It’s also a clear attempt to derail public scrutiny from potential demonstrators and protesters,” he added. “In that sense, this step comes off as rather undemocratic.”

Nonetheless, party officials say there is no clear alternative for Biden as pundits float names from Vice President Kamala Harris to California Gov. Gavin Newsom to Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), a progressive surrogate for Biden, said the president remains the best-positioned Democrat to beat Trump.

“The party is going to be unified around him,” Khanna said. “He’s their candidate. He’s got the best shot. He’s got a better shot than any other person that the pundits are floating around who don’t have that brand, name ID, and record as him.”

“There is no one else that would have a better chance absent Michelle Obama, who is not going to run,” he added.

Rep. Dan Kildee (D-MI), a congressman retiring from his Michigan seat at the end of the year, added that the time to nominate anyone other than Biden passed long ago.

“We’re way past that point,” he told the Washington Examiner. “Even though by 20th century standards we’re at the beginning of the campaign, by 21st century standards, we’re in the middle of the campaign. So, I don’t think that’s [going to happen], and I’m not advocating for it either.”

The last time Democrats selected a nominee by vote of delegates who were not already bound during a convention was in 1956, nearly 70 years ago, and that was to choose a vice presidential running mate for Adlai Stevenson. The move was designed to generate buzz for the ticket, and Sen. Estes Kefauver (D-TN) defeated second-place John F. Kennedy for the role.

The last convention for either party to feature a seriously contested presidential nomination was in 1976, when Gerald Ford narrowly bested Ronald Reagan.

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Ultimately, the biggest challenge for Biden, according to Democratic strategist Brad Bannon, will be creating drama, not avoiding it. The party will need to “pull out all the stops to keep the convention interesting” with A-list celebrities and speakers injecting buzz into the event.

“That would have been the case even if there hadn’t been this virtual nomination process,” he said.

Mabinty Quarshie, Cami Mondeaux, David Sivak, and Marisa Schultz contributed to this story.