Democrats hope to use crisis to change election results

go through Sarah SmithBBC North America Editor

analyze: Distance from Donald Trump Almost assassinated At a rally in Pennsylvania. The U.S. presidential election has changed dramatically over the past eight days.

In that short time, Trump was welcomed as a savior at the Republican National Convention and crowned As the party’s candidatewhile Joe Biden Forced to leave the match of.

Obviously Biden’s Poor performance In the TV broadcast Last month’s debate This has caused panic among Democrats – but their concerns go far beyond that.

He was trailing Trump in the polls before the president challenged his rival to a televised debate.

He had this idea only because he desperately needed to reset his campaign.

They hope that focusing voters’ attention on what a re-elected Trump could do will boost support for Biden, who is campaigning on the idea that if this election is a referendum on Trump, Biden will win.

But the president’s rambling, incoherent performance immediately turned the incident into a referendum on Biden and his fitness for office.

Suddenly, the president’s behavior became an open secret. The excuse was — He has a cold and jet lag – Very weak and unconvincing.

Savvy Democrats also sensed a potential opportunity. It was a chance to shake up this race, perhaps galvanize voters who were sorely disappointed at having to choose between two old rivals last time.

Any contest to elect a new candidate would have to be brief. The Democratic National Convention is scheduled to confirm its nominees on August 19.

But four weeks of debates, campaigning and town halls with some of the party’s talented and experienced young candidates could be exciting and draw the attention that new candidates need.

However, it looks like the party is quickly coming together to select Vice President Kamala Harris as its new candidate.

With so many elected representatives, senators and party bosses backing her, her approval ratings are likely to be unassailable.

None of her potential challengers, including California Governor Gavin Newsom, Michigan Governor Gretchen Witmer or Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, are willing to take on her. As they say in American sports, “the problem is solved.”

Democrats have just watched as Republicans have united in the adoration of Donald Trump. Republicans not only support their candidate, they adore him.

Contrasting Trump’s victory as the Republican nominee with the tight race for the Democratic presidential nomination seems overly risky — even if much of the Democratic Party isn’t all that enthusiastic about Harris.

Days before Joe Biden stepped down, one Democratic official told me that Harris was little more than “a shell with no ideological direction or moral compass.” But they said they would support her if it meant forcing Biden out of the race.

The biggest debate may be who Harris chooses as her running mate.

The key challenge is how to capture voters’ attention in a campaign against a former president who is consuming all their energy in this election.

“Never waste a serious crisis” was a favorite saying of Barack Obama’s chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel — though he might have borrowed it from Churchill.

What he meant was that a crisis can be an opportunity to do things that couldn’t be done before. The Democrats seized on the crisis created by Biden’s debate performance and used it to change the upcoming election.

Biden himself has said the outcome of this election is crucial in determining the future of American democracy. Democrats see Donald Trump as an existential threat to the country’s democratic institutions.

In this case, they have to do everything to find a winning candidate. The situation has become so dire that they force the incumbent president to step down. But they may not be brave enough to allow an open election to find the best candidate to replace him.

– This article was originally published by BBC