Some New Twists in the Election After Biden Drops Out Matt Margolis
In the hours since Joe Biden conceded defeat in the 2024 election to Donald Trump, there have been a lot of weird things happening. For starters, Kamala Harris is now working to secure support for her presidential bid. Some Democrats, like the Clintons, have endorsed her. Others, like the Obamas, have instead expressed support for some kind of process to select a new ticket.
Manchin 2024?
Perhaps the weirdest thing is that Sen. Joe Manchin (I-W.V.) is now considering reregistering as a Democrat and running for the party’s presidential nomination.
CNN’s Jake Tapper was first to break this development:
This was confirmed by Sam Stein of The Bulwark & MSNBC:
I really don’t believe that Manchin is a viable Democratic candidate, but if he does announce his candidacy it might make it easier for other Democrats (who might actually have a chance) to jump in as well.
Newsom makes his move
Shortly after the news broke that Biden was dropping out, California Gov. Gavin Newsom made a curious move.
Since he was widely seen for over a year now as positioning himself to jump in if Biden dropped out, it looked like he’d been activated and was ready to announce his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Not so fast. He has decided to endorse Harris rather than challenge her for the nomination.
I’m not going to lie, I was expecting him to challenge her for the nomination. It’s been obvious that he wants to run for president. This move signals to me that he expects Kamala Harris (or any other Democrat) to lose, and wants a clean slate in 2028.
Never Kamala
Joe Biden may have endorsed Kamala, but don’t expect a coronation. A major Biden donor says he won’t fundraise for Harris if she’s the nominee. In an interview with ABC News, John Morgan, a prominent Florida lawyer, said that he feels she’s too far left and would lose in November. Morgan supported Biden but resigned from the Biden National Finance Committee after Biden endorsed Harris. He believes—correctly—that Trump supporters would prefer Harris as the opponent.
“If Trump World could pick anybody to run against, I think they pick her,” he said. “If she’s a nominee, Mar a Lago has a real big party that night.”
Morgan reportedly described himself as a “Biden/Manchin type Dem,” which tells me that if Manchin runs, he’s got a big donor in his corner.
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