DEMOCRATIC PARTY SCRAMBLES FOR REPLACEMENT AS BIDEN WITHDRAWS FROM PRESIDENTIAL RACE - ANALYST

By Rohani Mohd Ibrahim

KUALA LUMPUR, July 22 (Bernama) -- The Democratic Party will now have to scramble to find a replacement candidate for President Joe Biden, who has announced his withdrawal from the race for the US presidency, said Singapore Institute of International Affairs Senior Fellow Dr Oh Ei Sun.

Speaking on the telephone in Bernama TV’s Bernama World programme on the US Election 2024 - Biden Out, he said that even though President Biden himself endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris's candidacy, it is not assured.

“Because the incumbent candidate cannot simply say, 'I am not running (for the presidency) and I am endorsing another candidate.’ In principle, you need to go through another round of primaries or at least some form of intra-party voting to select a candidate. So first, they (the Democratic Party) have to settle that,” he added.

According to Oh, the Democratic Party’s candidate will have to do some fundraising as it is now less than four months away from the election, and that particular candidate will have to counter ex-president Donald Trump's increasingly strong candidacy.

Asked how Biden’s exit would influence Harris’s political future, he said that Harris was the most natural choice, as she had been the vice president for almost four years and had worked well with him.

“But there are also some other very ambitious leaders within the Democratic Party, ranging from some governors to some senators, who will of course say that they are more qualified, more suitable, and more winnable than Kamala Harris,” he noted.

Oh said such Democratic in-fighting cannot go on for long because they simply will not have the time to indulge in it and will still have to engage ex-president Donald Trump.

Asked if he anticipates the Republican Party will adjust their strategy following the latest development, he said over the past few weeks Trump’s camp has been filled with glee over Biden’s poor performance at the presidential debate.

Assuming Harris is the candidate for the Democratic Party, he said the Republicans will focus on her liberal records, such as pro-immigration, pro-abortion rights, and many other liberal agendas, to convince Americans not to vote for her.

Elaborating on the factors that contributed to Biden's decision to drop out of the presidential race, Oh said the immediate motivation would be persuasion by senior Democratic leaders and those from the Congress, Senate, and House of Representatives.

He stated that behind the scenes they have been trying their best to persuade Biden to withdraw his candidacy due to his disastrous performance in the presidential debate with Trump, which cemented a lot of people’s impression that perhaps he did not have the stamina to go ahead with both this candidacy and the future presidency.

Media earlier reported that Biden withdrew from the race for the US presidency on Sunday and endorsed Harris as the Democratic Party's nominee.

-- BERNAMA