If not Biden… who? From Harris to Whitmer, who can replace him

Panic in the democratic field it started well before the first commercial break in the TV debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. Biden can be replaced? Who should replace him? With the Democratic convention in Chicago only two months away, Biden could be easy to replace—assuming, of course, that he steps aside. The rules governing the convention stipulate that Biden cannot be denied the nomination without his consent. Whether that is likely to happen is aside, his obvious successor would be his vice president, Kamala Harris.

But according to The Hill, it would not improve the situation much. Harris may even be even less popular than Biden and it could already now be Trump’s next target who will most likely immediately start arguing that, if he were to win, “Grandpa Joe” would quickly be sidelined to make way for his “ultra-progressive” successor. If Democrats truly believe that Donald Trump poses an existential threat to American democracy, then both Biden and Harris should step aside. Then the emergency solution would be Gretchen Whitmer, popular governor of Michigan, on the ticket with Josh Shapiro, governor of Pennsylvania.

Whitmer is popular nationally and Biden is currently trailing in both Michigan and Pennsylvania. Even Roy Cooper, outgoing governor of North Carolina, he would be an interesting choice for vice president, especially if Biden steps aside and Harris becomes the nominee. Of course, there are problems with nominating Whitmer, including the risk of alienating African-American voters. But there’s a good reason why a Whitmer/Shapiro ticket would outperform a Biden/Harris ticket.

After his latest TV performance, Biden’s campaign will be strictly a referendum on Donald Trump rather than a vote of confidence in another four years of Joe Biden, and Whitmer, or someone like her, can win over the undecided and the ‘double haters’, those ‘double haters’ who would vote for neither Biden nor Trump. In an election that could be decided by a few thousand votes, that could make the difference. We’re still talking about fantasy politics: in all likelihood Biden will emerge from the Democratic convention as the party’s candidate and at that point the choice will be in the hands of the Americans, from Alaska to Florida.