Former Senator and Vice President Joe Biden has assumedly had the Democratic nomination for the 2020 presidency since shortly after Super Tuesday. However, he cannot be officially given the title of nominee until the Democratic party holds a convention. Although, this week, he did make it a step closer to achieving that goal.
This past Tuesday held the nation’s latest round of state primaries. And as most of the ballots from that date have now been counted, Biden is presumed to have enough votes and, therefore, pledged delegates to qualify for the nomination, without needing any superdelegates.
As the New York Post reports, “Joe Biden has formally clinched the Democratic presidential nomination Friday.”
The outlet cited Biden to have said of his latest achievement in a statement Friday evening, “It was an honor to compete alongside one of the most talented groups of candidates the Democratic party has ever fielded. And I am proud to say that we are going into this general election a united party.”
You will note that while the primaries for the nine states took place on Tuesday, the Post and others couldn’t actually report on the results until Friday. And in fact, some states have yet to completely finish counting their ballots.
Most of this is due to the widespread use of mail-in ballots, which, historically, have only been used in handfuls. However, due to the still-present coronavirus and the risk of infection, most states have allowed for a vast amount of mail-in or absentee ballots to be sent in.
This means longer wait times until those ballots, coming in from all over, can be counted.
In addition, while some states have a fairly efficient system for mail-in ballots, others have rarely used them, which means their staff and party members have little to no experience with even a small amount, let alone the droves that have flooded party headquarters in the states, such as Rhode Island and Maryland.
Now, if these rather small states are having problems counting primary mail-in votes, can you imagine how difficult it will be when the entire nation is voting in November?
Then again, Biden might not make it to November.
I know, I just said he was closer than ever to being named the nominee. However, since Biden’s former competitor Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, dropped out, and even before then, there have been rumors about replacing the assumed nominee last minute. So much for a united party, huh?
With his policies and platform issues being far less radical than Sanders’ and having had success as second in command for eight years with the first black president, it was clear that Biden was the crowd favorite of the Democrat Party from the get-go. However, as time and his many gaffes have proved to many within the party, Biden’s mental faculties might not be what they used to be.
As it turns out, mishaps like forgetting what state you are in, who your wife is, or even what position you are running for tend to instill doubts of being up for the tremendous task at hand in voters.
And if he can’t handle merely reading from a teleprompter in his secluded basement, how in the world is he going to face off with President Trump, who will have no qualms about pointing out his mental failures for all the nation to hear.
Many have since talked about using the upcoming and must-have convention as a way to replace Biden at the last minute, using those superdelegates Biden didn’t need. Everyone from Elizabeth Warren to the face of COVID-19 New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has been named as suggestions for such a move.
For now, the rumors are held to just that. However, as the nation begins to open back up as the novel coronavirus slowly melts away, Biden will not have an excuse to hide away in his basement much longer. He will be forced back out onto the campaign trail and under the ever-present and watchful scrutiny of the media.
And if his past gaffes say anything, it’s only a matter of time before he makes a mistake big enough to cause him a severe problem. Plus, as the nation begins to recover, Trump’s approval rating could completely rebound just as the economy is beginning to.
And where would that leave ‘you ain’t black’ Biden?
