US Vice President Kamala Harris says she is ready to "serve" as a leader.
While fears about Joe Biden's advanced age are rampant, Harris - in an interview with the Wall Street Journal conducted two days before the report by special prosecutor Robert Hur - assures: "I'm ready, there's no doubt about it."
In recent months the White House has tried to revive the image of Harris who, in the polls, is performing worse than Biden.
Attention is high on the US vice president, considering the president's age and the possibility that she could replace him if something happened while he is in office.
Democrats have so far avoided any discussion of a Plan B for their presidential candidate.
But Special Prosecutor Hur's report
may have forced their hand, having dealt a controversial low blow to Biden's cognitive abilities.
The most likely outcome is that Biden remains in the race, according to Politico, which however prefigures two possible scenarios if the party is forced to replace him at the August convention or later.
According to the site, the truth is that an alternative strategy could only be deployed if the Dem leader voluntarily steps aside, or if he proves physically incapable for the nomination, circumstances not on the horizon for now.
Short of failure or a highly unlikely revolt at the Chicago convention (August 19-22) by delegates already committed to supporting Biden, there is only one viable Plan B: that the president himself agrees to hand over the baton.
It seems difficult to convince the proud Biden to take a step back but, according to Politico, there is a path that allows him to leave with dignity and on his own terms.
It envisions the Democratic primary running its course, concluding on June 4, when Biden would end up as the clear winner, with far more than the 1,968 delegate votes needed to become the nominee.
Then the president
should announce that he does not accept the nomination and that he allows his delegates to support a different candidate.
He could insist that he is still eligible to serve another term, but that he accepts public concerns about a president who would be 86 at the end of his second term.
He could remind voters that he has always claimed to be a bridge to the next generation of Democratic leaders, that the economy is on track, that he defeated Trump once and protected American democracy.
In short, that he did his duty.
At this point Biden would remain the 'kingmaker' and could guide the choice and vote of the delegates, no longer bound but still loyal to him.
The options available for plan B
One of the most delicate issues, according to Politico, would be that of Kamala Harris, who is more unpopular than the commander in chief and who does not convince the whole party but whose exclusion could alienate the votes of African Americans.
Among those eligible are the governors of California, Illinois and Michigan: Gavin Newsowm, JB Pritzker, Gretchen Whitmer.
In the event of disagreements, a decisive role could be played by the super delegates (managers and former dem managers), who have the right to express their preference in a possible second vote, even if this would risk reopening the controversy on the role played by the elites of the party in the selection of the 'nominee', as happened in the duel between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.
However, it is more difficult to replace Biden after the convention.
The rules of the convention itself say that, in the event of the nominee's "death, resignation, or disability," the party chair will "confer with the Democratic leadership of the Congress and Democratic Governors' Association and report" to the approximately 450 members of the Democratic National Committee, who will choose a new candidate.
And a new 'running mate' if they elevate Harris to the top of the ticket.
But it would be a race against time: Ballots for military personnel deployed overseas go out a couple of weeks after the convention ends, and early in-person voting begins Sept. 20 in Minnesota and South Dakota.
The Republicans, on the other hand, would not have the possibility of replacing Donald Trump at their convention in July - even if he were convicted of one or more crimes - if he had the majority of delegates: in fact they are not only 'pledged' but "bound" ( bound).
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