Q&A of the Day – Biden’s Released Delegates & The State of The Democrat’s Race
Each day I feature a listener question sent by one of these methods.
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Today’s Entry: Brian- I understand that Biden’s delegates are now released but what specifically does that mean? Are the delegates that will decide who the Democrat’s nominee will be still the same people who were pledged to Biden? Are they still planning on voting for a candidate before the convention to avoid a potential spectacle? Thanks I’ll be listening.
Bottom Line: The short answers to your questions are that yes, the delegates who will decide who the Democrat’s presidential nominee will be, are the same delegates who had been pledged to Joe Biden. As for whether there will be a vote on a nominee before the convention, that’s to be decided by the DNC in a meeting tomorrow though the answer is likely yes. As for the backstory and the details that are critical to the historic next steps that are set to be taken...let’s get to it.
The magic number of pledged delegates needed to clinch the Democrat’s presidential nomination is 1,976. During the primary and caucus process delegates were pledged like this:
- Joe Biden: 3,904
- Uncommitted: 37
- Dean Phillips: 5
- Jason Palmer: 3
All three of the presidential candidates who won pledged delegates have dropped out of the race meaning that they are free to vote for whomever they want. However, the delegates are people who were determined by the presidential campaigns of the candidates to be loyal to their candidate of choice. That dynamic potentially makes the endorsement of the candidates who originally won delegates especially significant in steering the votes of their formerly pledged delegates. President Biden immediately endorsed Harris meaning that if only a little over half of his pledged delegates heeded his advice, she’d be the Democrat’s pick. The people representing the uncommitted delegates will be decided by party leadership, Dean Phillips isn’t endorsing and instead is calling for a series of town halls with up to four top contenders in advance of a vote at an open convention. Jason Palmer has effectively endorsed Harris through a series of reposts of top politicos endorsing Harris. That means the former candidates representing all but 42 of the Democrat’s formerly pledged delegates are backing Harris.
Through the end of the day Monday, Harris had accumulated the support of 2,668 delegates, or 68% of the delegates, based on those who’d publicly pledged support to her. Notably, that included the immediate support of the entire state delegation of six states: Florida, Louisiana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. That was the theme of the day yesterday. State delegations held calls and where there was consensus among the delegates, they stated it publicly. Reports were that Harris immediately began working the phones following Biden’s exit from the race seeking to sure up support and it worked. That included a call to the Obamas. The same Obamas that publicly made a lengthy statement in support of Joe Biden’s political career and presidency but that concluded without an endorsement of any presidential candidate instead stating: For now, Michelle and I just want to express our love and gratitude to Joe and Jill for leading us so ably and courageously during these perilous times — and for their commitment to the ideals of freedom and equality that this country was founded on.
The non-endorsement had led many to wonder whether Michelle Obama was reconsidering a run or whether the Obamas just weren’t convinced of Kamala Harris at this stage in the process. It is worth nothing that the Obama’s didn’t endorse Joe Biden in 2020 until after he’d already won the necessary delegates to clinch the nomination – so taking the passive approach in this process isn’t necessarily out of character. In the end it didn’t matter. Harris was able to sure up the vote the support of the Obamas just as Biden won the 2020 primary without their support as well.
Most recently the DNC had scheduled a virtual vote of delegates for President starting August 1st and concluding August 7th – in advance of the Democrat’s convention. Tomorrow (Wednesday) the DNC is scheduled to meet to discuss what next steps in the nomination process will be. The convention is scheduled to begin in under four weeks, August 19th running through the 22nd. One might imagine that party leadership would prefer to have a nominee in hand headed into the convention which would head off any potential drama at the convention which could reveal deep divisions in the party just a few months before the election. With Harris having the support of more than enough delegates in hand, perhaps they will leave the original plan in place with a virtual delegate vote set to begin Thursday of next week. If not, maybe plans change – including heading to the convention floor with an “open” convention which would introduce the possibility of additional drama into the process.