History was made in the U.S. this weekend after President Joe Biden announced he would end his presidential reelection campaign. The Democrats are now without a presumptive presidential nominee, less than four months before election day.
After weeks of mounting pressure to step aside, President Joe Biden has ended his bid for reelection.
The 81-year-old Biden announced he's dropping out of the race after heavy criticism over his ability to lead at his age.
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A historical decision, Biden is the first sitting president since Lyndon B. Johnson to drop out of the presidential race. That was in 1968 but Johnson did so seven months before the election.
Biden, on the other hand, made his announcement less than four months from the election. And he did so just one day after Vice President Kamala Harris was in Provincetown, Massachusetts, speaking on his behalf.
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Biden made this decision isolating at his Delaware beach house after being diagnosed with COVID-19 last week, marking an end to his 52 years in politics.
Trump responded by telling NBC News that Biden "is the worst president in the history of the United States by far" and that Biden "should never have been in the race in the first place."
However, local Democrats had a much different response.
"It was the right thing to do. We needed this for the country for the party and I'm proud of the president for making this decision," said Congressman Seth Moulton. "More than half the country didn't want either Biden or Trump to be the nominee. One party has said we hear you America, we're making a change."
Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren also chimed in with a statement saying in part "Joe Biden willingly stepped aside in order to protect our democracy. President Biden's selfless action is a profound gift to the people of the United States — and it's on all of us not to waste it."
The Democratic National Convention is less than a month away, where we should learn who will be replacing Biden atop the ticket.
Now, Democrats are left wondering, what comes next? Because even with Biden's endorsement, Harris still must gain the support of top Democrats to punch in her ticket for the November election.
If most presidential campaigns are a marathon, this is definitely a sprint, with a lot of hurdles for Harris to overcome as the new Democratic frontrunner.
"We've all followed that narrative for a few years now, where the knock on her was she's not ready for primetime. Now, all of a sudden, she's potentially the party's nominee for president," said political analyst Scott Spradling.
One major hurdle is money, but Harris' campaign says she raised more than $49 million in grassroots donations since Biden ended his campaign and endorsed her Sunday.
Harris has also filed to take over the millions in donations to the Biden-Harris campaign.
The next major hurdle is securing delegates.
Delegates in several states, including New Hampshire, have already pledged their support for her.
"I think politically, at least in terms of the nomination, it should be a cake walk. I think it's been reported every state chairman of the Democratic party endorsed her yesterday as well," said Boston University presidential historian Tom Whalen.
But political strategists on both sides of the aisle seem to agree, by waiting until late July to step aside, Biden and his campaign managers haven't given Harris much room to succeed.
"She's smart and she's capable and she's qualified, but I don't think there's enough room to turn around this race and I think this is a set up," said Democratic strategist Jacquetta Van Zandt.
"I'm not sure if the timing is a little too late, but we'll see in the next coming weeks how this unfolds for the Democrats, and I think for once, as a Republican, I'm willing to watch their party in disarray," said Republican strategist Ozzie Palomo.
The DNC had previously planned to take a virtual vote on Aug. 7 – a deadline to get the Democratic nominee on the Ohio ballot, but it's unclear whether that vote will happen.
