The obvious question on everyone’s mind is clearly, “What the hell is going on?.” Over the last few weeks, political events have unfolded in a magnitude akin to a category five hurricane, and the course America will take has dramatically been affected. All the preconceived notions of political gravity have been upended, and now the 2024 campaign has evolved from a somewhat boring rematch into complete and utter mania. The saga of President Biden’s decision to leave the race is a case study of it’s own that deserves to be examined.
Biden Falls
In the immediate aftermath of the presidential debate, a week-long silence ensued when the Biden campaign attempted damage control to keep Biden shielded and in the race. For days, Biden was shielded by his closest advisors and supporters, who made it impossible to get to the President. Then, the floodgates began to open; house democrats one by one began to defect from the ranks as polling numbers began to come in. Early efforts after the debate by Senator Mark Warner to remove Biden from the topline escalated into a three-week brawl that would eventually engulf the President. The Biden campaign tried its best to do damage control, scheduling high-profile interviews with the press like George Stephanopoulos for ABC and Lester Holt for NBC and a conducting live off-the-cuff press conference for the NATO summit. This media strategy was coupled with a barnstorm to unleash Biden on the road in battleground states like North Carolina and Nevada. This strategy attempted to do the impossible and rehabilitate the Biden image after the debate, but the damage was done. The media focused in on every single Biden gaffe; he was a specimen placed under the microscope searching for even the slightest imperfections to affirm what the American people had seen in the debate: the tides had turned.
Poll after poll showed a greater number of Democrats and Independents, with numbers as high as 75% agreeing with the sentiment that Biden should drop from the top of the ticket. At first, it seemed that Biden would prevail against the revolt as top ranking officials as the caucus seemed to be resigned that Biden would hold as the top line; but almost as if fate had consigned Biden to the political flames, former President Trump was shot. Trump’s narrow assassination attempt sent Democrats into a panic, where the “triumphant” image of Trump declaring “fight, fight” to his crowd convinced Democrats that it would set Biden tumbling down. Any hope of keeping Biden on the topline was destroyed by a bullet, and the walls would come crumbling down. Behind the scenes, leaders of the democratic party like Nancy Pelosi and, most notably, President Barack Obama would turn against Biden and push him to abandon his effort for re-election. Biden and his staff would remain defiant. The Biden campaign was adamant to keep at it and refused to let their man resign as the top of the ticket, but again, another blow would reach the Biden campaign. Last Wednesday, Biden contracted COVID-19 amidst a national swing to save his campaign: now, it was truly over.
The Resignation
Even before contracting COVID-19, Biden stopped affirming that Kamala couldn’t win, instead asking, “Can Kamala win?” in a suggestive tone that elucidated a change in position. But the final knock at Biden’s chances would come on Friday, July 19th, when Senators like Sherrod Brown and Jon Tester and a slew of other house members released statements urging Biden to drop out of the race. The house of cards could no longer hold, and Biden, from his Delaware home, acknowledged that his political career would come to acknowledge on Saturday, July 20th, that it was over as his closest allies would bring devastating news. On Saturday evening, Biden’s closest allies, Steve Richheti and Mike Donilon, who had advised Biden since the 1970s, carried numbers of fundraising efforts and polling that showed Biden’s path to 270 had evaporated. The fundraising had all but dried up, and Biden was now in peril within safe democratic states like Virginia and New Mexico. Thus, the political institution that is Joe Biden did the inevitable and resigned himself to his fate; with Jill Biden and his family in tow, he ended his long political career.
His decision to resign was made, and he had authorized this decision, telling a few allies that he intended to resign from the race. At 1:46 pm on Sunday, July 23rd, history was made, and Biden released a statement on X stating that “I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term.” Many staffers and campaign officials found out to the public that Biden had made the decision that he made: feeling betrayed and alone, Biden decided to go with grace and leave with his dignity intact.
Harris Rises
In the immediate aftermath, the eyes of the nation turned upon Kamala Harris and, with good reason, viewed her as heir apparent of the Democrat party. Biden had orchestrated his resignation in such a way that the party would quickly unite around Harris as the nominee. Within minutes, Biden announced a wholehearted endorsement of Kamala Harris, and a flood of support would ensue. The numbers are staggering; just 24 hours after Biden dropped out, she would earn a staggering 84 million dollars for her Presidential effort. Harris would also win key endorsements from party players like Nancy Pelosi and would quickly cross the threshold of delegates needed to win the Democratic nomination and, with record speed, launched the effort to spearhead a strong effort against former President Trump. With President Biden’s blessing, this effort rallied behind the sentiment stated by the President that “although the top of the ticket has changed, the mission is the same,” on a surprise call to his campaign headquarters is now moving full steam ahead to defeat Trump and Republicans up and down the ticket. This effort would follow an outcry by Republicans claiming “foul ball.”
The Republicans have quickly cried that this quick dismissal and nomination of Harris was a “coup” of Biden, using the line of attack that Democrats had disregarded the will of their primary voters and their decision to make Biden the nominee. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) states that Republicans would look into legal avenues to try and keep Harris off the top line of the Democratic ticket, a claim that legal experts have decried as one with “no validity.” Trump, on his own part, would ask for a “refund” on Truth Social for all the millions his campaign has spent attacking Biden and the “unfairness” of this change at the top of the ticket.
Veepstakes and End
Now, with Kamala Harris the presumptive Democratic nominee, she looks to pick a Vice President of her own. The reported shortlist includes Democrats like Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear and Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona, all with the intention to boost Harris’ profile in the key battlegrounds. A deep dive into these candidates is forthcoming in a new BridgeofWills post on our Instagram that examines the merits of each candidate.
With Biden out and this race uncertain, there’s one thing for sure: America has irrecoverably changed, and the course that this election has taken will be examined by historians centuries from now as a pivotal moment in U.S. Presidential History.
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