Biden ballot woes continue

“Resident” Joe Biden still can’t win for losing, it seems, regarding securing ballot access in “all fifty States.” Secretaries of State (or their deputies in charge of elections) in three States have warned the Democrats that Biden and Harris will not be on the general election ballot if they miss their respective State deadlines. Those deadlines fall before the Democratic National Convention gets to Presidential Voting Day, or in some cases before it convenes. CNAV thought then that this was a ruse to replace Biden before the election. On the other hand, Dr. Steve Turley expected these election officials to “cut deals” with the Democrats. But yesterday the Attorney General of Ohio flatly refused to entertain any quick fix. Now either the Ohio legislature passes a special act to give Biden a pass – or the Democrats do replace Biden. It’s that simple.

Review of the Biden ballot access problem

Recall the problem Biden and the Democrats face.

On April 9, The Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio), or its on-line presence called Cleveland.com, carried the first story. Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose officially notified Democrats that they must certify a nominee on August 7. Otherwise, that candidate’s name would not appear on the ballot this fall.

The problem for the Democrats is that their nominating convention begins August 19, in Chicago, Illinois. That’s Keynote Day. Platform Day comes next, and then Presidential Voting Day, and last, Vice-Presidential Voting Day and Acceptance Speeches. The only way the Democrats could certify Biden (and presumably Vice-President Harris) to run, is that their Convention begins on July 29 – three weeks earlier than planned.

August 7 is the ninety-day deadline that Ohio has required since 2009. To date the Party in power has never met that deadline – because Parties in power always convene later. In 2012 and 2020 the Party out of power got a special waiver from the legislature. But this time the Democrats sought to certify Biden and Harris provisionally, subject to any changes on the Voting Days.

Not so fast, said Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost. Provisional certification, he said, “simply is not provided for by law.”

Instead, the law mandates the Democratic Party to actually certify its president and vice-president candidates on or before August 7, 2024. No alternative process is permitted.

Fox News Channel provided the full text of the correspondence between Yost and Donald J. McTigue, the Democrats’ Ohio lawyer. At time of posting, McTigue has not answered Yost’s letter.

Problems in other States

Besides Ohio, Alabama also has an early ballot certification deadline of August 15, still earlier than the Democratic Convention. The Alabama Reflector discussed that issue. At first, only two Republican States were raising the issue. Biden carried neither State in 2020, and in fact Hillary carried neither State in 2016. So leaving Biden off the ballot will probably not affect his chances of winning 270 electoral votes. (No Democrat since Jimmy Carter has carried Alabama in modern times.)

But if no Democrat appears at the top of the ticket, this could severely impact other races down-ticket. That applies mainly to U.S. House races, and county and municipal races either in big cities, or the counties seated in such cities. It also affects legislative races, because Kentucky, New Jersey and Virginia are the only three “off-year States.” So if the Democrats hope to make any inroads in those two States, they must have someone at the top of the ticket.

In fact a third State has an early deadline: Washington State. Their deadline is August 20, which is Platform Day. According to ABC News, Washington State’s election officials are willing to offer provisional certification.

The real problem: Biden can’t campaign

Again, the more likely solution the Democrats will find is to replace Biden. Biden showed several times that he can’t campaign as a normal candidate would. He can’t even manage to stick to the simplest script. This affects not only his campaign events but also his official pronouncements.

The Gateway Pundit has multiple examples. In a speech addressing the latest action in the Middle East, Biden apparently warned Israel not to attack Haifa. The problem: Haifa is Israel’s third largest city, and is not currently under any Arab occupation. While addressing members of United Steelworkers in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the Resident regaled them with a false story of his “Uncle Bosey” being eaten by cannibals. Not only that, but he took yet another occasion to approach a little girl inappropriately. Grant Stinchfield said Biden set a record for most gaffes in one speech.

Later he stopped by a Sheetz station in Pittsburgh; one supporter greeted him, and he left after two minutes.

This morning a reporter pointed out that Pennsylvania had stretches with lots of Trump signs and very few Biden signs. “You haven’t been driving in the right places, pal!” snarled the Resident, who couldn’t describe those “right places.” This afternoon he appeared in Philadelphia, and actually said,

Are you ready to choose freedom over democracy? Because that’s America!

Later he stopped in a Wawa and, according to script, ordered a take-out meal. He struggled with it, and then wandered off to get a milkshake. Sweet frozen dairy desserts seem to be his staple diet.

But Trump can

In sharp contrast, Donald J. Trump has been making real lemonade out of the lemons a New York judge keeps handing him. The judge has threatened the former President with arrest if he misses one day of the trial. Whether he will defy the court and dare it to arrest him for attending his son Barron’s upcoming high-school graduation, no one besides Dr. Steve Turley has speculated. But for now he is appearing in New York spots infamous for illustrating Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s soft-on-crime policies. This includes a bodega where a clerk briefly faced attempted murder charges after he defended himself against a robber. The D.A. subsequently thought better of that and dropped the charges. But the bodega clerk, furious, announced plans to leave New York and go back to the Dominican Republic.

Though the clerk wasn’t there, the bodega still stands – and patrons and staff greeted him very warmly.

Trump has some observers speculating that he might carry New York. Even if he doesn’t, he will force Democrats to spend money in New York that they didn’t plan to spend. That will drain their resources that they need in other States.

If not Biden, who?

The Democrats have been whispering about replacing Biden since December of 2023. Their most recent speculation happened in February. John L. Dorman of Business Insider listed seven possible candidates then:

• Kamala Harris, moving up from Vice-President to President,
• Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.),
• Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-Mich.),
• Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.),
• Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.),
• Gov. Roy Cooper (D-N.C.), and
• Gov. Wes Moore (D-Md.)

Each of these people would have a good incentive to try for the prize. Kamala Harris has been measuring the drapes from day one. Gavin Newsom and Gretchen Whitmer each has a socialist, civilian-disarmament, and Doctor Moreau-like agenda to push. (On Monday the Supreme Court stayed an injunction against Idaho’s new Anti-Doctor-Moreau law.) The two blue-State Senators have much the same stake. Wes Moore would love the limelight. And Roy Cooper, a Democrat with a veto-proof Republican legislature basically telling him how to run his State, is the lamest of lame ducks today.

But let’s not neglect that scion of the Democrats’ favorite political dynasty, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. He differs from Democrats on one major issue: the folly of artificial active acquired immunity. Kennedy has opposed the current childhood vaccination schedule as assiduously as he opposed the coronavirus vaccines. For what it’s worth, he also opposes the “Doctors Moreau” who seek to turn little boys into girls and vice-versa. But on every other issue, he toes the line.

Bottom line

Never before has ballot access been a problem after a late-in-the-year convention. The Washington State incident gives the game away. Presidential nominating conventions are a formality. That goes double for the party in power, renominating their incumbents. The last time anyone had any doubts about the outcome of a nominating convention was in 1976. Ronald W. Reagan and incumbent Gerald R. Ford came to a convention full of “uncommitted delegates.” Neither man had a clear majority. The gamesmanship – and games-woman-ship between Nancy Reagan and Betty Ford, with their competing Grand Entrances – ultimately settled the matter. And no one – ever – brought up whether Ford and Bob Dole were too late to get on the ballot.

But if this is Kabuki Theater, then it seems to be setting a new record for verisimilitude. Whether Ohio officials will stick to the resolve they seem to be showing, is an open question. Perhaps Ohio Republicans are sending a message: if you want to replace Biden, get a move on – and don’t expect us to help you.

But surely the Democrats know Biden cannot win. Stephen A. Smith at ESPN said they know it, and that’s why they’re waging “lawfare” against Trump. But maybe they have Bobby Kennedy or Roy Cooper or Gavin Newsom waiting in the wings.

Which should remind President Trump of the folly of campaigning on Whether You Want The Other Guy. Trump needs to campaign on what he will do for the people, not on what Biden has done to them.