Biden nomination won’t move quickly, buying doubters time | Wilnesh News

The Democratic National Committee said any virtual roll call to formally nominate President Joe Biden as the party’s presidential nominee will not begin before Aug. 1, according to a letter sent to delegates on Wednesday and obtained by NBC News.

The decision rules out the possibility that a process aimed at fast-tracking Biden’s nomination, which some of his allies have been pushing, could begin as early as next week.

It also buys more time for Democrats on Capitol Hill to come together and call for Biden to withdraw from the race, as many Democratic lawmakers have publicly and privately expressed concerns about the president’s age and health.

The House and Senate are out of town this week but will return to Washington the week of July 22.

“Regardless of what is reported, our goal is not rapid development,” Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Bishop Leah Daughtry wrote. Democratic National CommitteeRules Committee. “None of this will be rushed. Unlike our country’s other major political parties, our rules are set in public meetings and are based on the party’s constitution and traditions.”

Walz and Daughtry’s letter also calmed growing concerns on Capitol Hill about the early voting process.

In response to the Democratic National Committee’s decision, House Democrats on Wednesday canceled a draft letter they planned to send to the Democratic National Committee urging it to cancel the accelerated virtual roll call schedule.

“We are pleased that the pressure is working and the DNC will not continue a rushed process, so we will not be sending a letter at this time,” a spokesman for California Rep. Jared Huffman said Wednesday. , Democratic lawmakers led the effort.

Senate Majority Leader Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), The Democratic National Committee has also been urged to delay the voting process, sources familiar with the matter told NBC News and CNBC.

Walz and Daughtry noted that while the nomination process won’t begin before August, it will wrap up before the Democratic National Convention begins on August 19. Olympic Games. But a late start could cause presidential nomination deadlines to overlap in several states.

Wednesday’s letter comes as the Democratic National Committee faces ongoing pressure from some Democrats to scrap the expedited nomination schedule entirely and give the party time to find a new nominee.

Biden’s poor performance in a June 27 debate with former President Donald Trump raised public concerns about his age and mental acuity.

As of Wednesday, at least 20 Democrats in Congress were publicly calling on Biden to withdraw from the race and allow another nominee to take the lead. Many more privately expressed concerns about the president’s re-election chances.

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., on Wednesday became the latest lawmaker to raise his concerns and formally urge Biden to drop out of the race.

“While the choice to withdraw from the race was President Biden’s to make alone, I believe it is time for him to pass the torch,” Schiff said in a statement. “Doing so will allow us to defeat the enemy in the upcoming election.” Donald Trump, thus ensuring his leadership.”

Biden has repeatedly resisted pressure to withdraw and pledged to stay in the race unless his team tells him he has “no chance” of winning.

The Democratic National Committee decided to continue virtual roll calls in May in an effort to get Biden on the ballot in Ohio before the Aug. 7 deadline. When Ohio officially pushed its voting deadline to the end of August, the Democratic National Committee stuck to its plan for a virtual roll call.

“We believe a virtual element is the smartest approach because it ensures we have ballots in the states we need to win in November and avoids potential risks if there are delays in the process,” Daughtry and Walz wrote in the letter. “The challenges we face with ballot deadlines are not limited to Ohio.”

They point to late-August voting deadlines in Washington, Montana, Oklahoma, California and Virginia to justify the virtual voting process, which they say takes into account the timing of the Democratic National Convention Arrangement, this will be an urgent change.

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