What happens if Biden becomes the presidential candidate and steps out before the election?

Democrats would need to hurry to provide a new ticket of candidates, and get them registered in every state, etc.

@Zaku Vote again?

I think Biden is too old as it is and I wish he would just drop out now so the party could find someone new who’s a good candidate. If Biden drops out at the last minute, it will cause chaos.

If the ticket is Biden/Harris, and Biden steps down in, say, next July or August 2024, Harris does not automatically become the nominee, but that would be likely.
The Dems would simply announce a different name.
This kind of happened in 1972, when VP nominee Eagleton withdrew, and McGovern got Shriver to join the ticket. That was, of course, death to their chances.

@filmfann Who among the Dems gets to decide? What if Biden died, or became very ill, I assume that’s the same as him withdrawing.

@JLeslie It’d be up to the party to determine what they had time to do, and to choose a plan. I’m sure they have already thought of detailed plans for what to do if their candidate drops out of a presidential campaign, which I expect varies based on exactly how much time they have, and takes into account the rules in EVERY electoral district on how much time they need to get the ballot entries changed, etc. I don’t know the details. But with only two months, I expect the Dem leadership would just look at the existing primary results as they considered who the next best candidates are, and choose themselves, as soon as possible, then launch an emergency campaign blitz to try to popularize the new ticket.

@Zaku Who’s deciding though? I’m curious about names. I don’t think I really understand who the actual decision makers are.

@JLeslie Some set of the DNC leadership – and (unofficially) the more powerful people who fund them and/or pull their strings in other ways.

The primary would be among the remaining candidates. I know of no reason that would be different if the withdrawing candidate was the incumbent. I have never read anything about this but it seems like common sense to me. If there was enough time to enlist another candidate, there likely would be other(s) who might want to jump in with Biden gone.

@Zaku Thanks!

@SnipSnip The Q was about once the candidate has been decided.

^^Thanks….I didn’t read it carefully. This is a good article on the subject.

https://www.talksonlaw.com/briefs/what-happens-if-a-presidential-nominee-withdraws-or-dies-before-an-election

^^Thanks for that link.