Democratic strategist James Carville argues that former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama should play a role in selecting options to replace President Biden as the party’s nominee if the incumbent ends his re-election bid.
Carville said in a op-ed in The New York Times on Monday that he expects Biden to drop out of the 2024 race, saying it will only take some time before the president gives in to pressure from Democrats and public and private polls. He also wrote that the sooner this happens, the better.
But Carville said the Democratic Party should not choose to automatically nominate Vice President Harris or another prominent Democrat to replace him.
“We have to do this openly — exactly the opposite of what Donald Trump wants us to do,” Carville said. “For the first time in his life, Mr. Trump is praying. To win the White House and increase his chances of avoiding an orange jumpsuit, he needs Democrats to make the wrong moves in the coming days — that is, appear to rig the nomination of an outgoing president, the sitting vice president, or some another heir apparent. .”
Biden has remained adamant that he does not plan to quit, despite public and private calls for him to do so, following last month’s debate with former President Trump. The public calls have come from a handful of Democratic governors so far.
A former chairman of Clinton’s successful 1992 presidential campaign, Carville said he wants to develop the “mini primaries” that Rep. James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.) and Times op-ed columnist Ezra Klein have called for. He said Democrats should hold four town halls, one in each region of the country, by the start of the Democratic National Convention in mid-August.
He said Clinton and Obama are the two “most obvious and qualified people in the world to facilitate substantive discussions.”
“They may not represent all factions under the big tent of our party. But they care as much about our democracy as our nation’s first president, they understand what it takes to be president and they know how to win,” he said.
Carville said the two former presidents should choose eight of the top candidates who choose to run, including Harris, to participate, noting that he sees the vice president as a “formidable opponent” to Trump. He added that they could potentially turn to the 23 Democratic governors for consultation in order to make the process more democratic.
“The town halls will give Americans a fresh look at Mrs. Harris and introduce them to our bench of smart, dynamic and tested leaders,” he said. “Additionally, Democratic delegates will be able to further interrogate and test the resilience of these leaders in public and private meetings before a formal vote of all delegates at the Democratic convention.”
Carville said he trusts the delegates, who he described as “pragmatic patriots” who care about their communities, to be able to reach a majority decision after this public and substantive process. He said he’s not worried about delegates, Democratic talent, money, time or the Democrats’ opponent.
A “super-democratic process,” the opposite of what Trump wants, is the answer, he concluded.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
