CARBONDALE, IL (WSIL) � It's going to take nearly 2,000 delegates for Kamala Harris to become the Democrat nominee for president.
And of the nearly 4,000 delegates expected at the Democratic National Convention next month, President Joe Biden received more than double the needed number to secure the nomination, but his resignation Sunday put these delegates into question.
“I think history will look back on this period as being somewhat unusual,� said SIU political science professor Ken Mulligan.
Students in Civics classrooms will soon get a unique lesson in presidential politics. President Lyndon Johnson was the last incumbent not to seek renomination in 1968.
“We've seen sitting presidents decide not to seek re-election,� said SIC political science professor Matt Lees. “We saw that with Harry Truman in 1952 and Lyndon Johnson in 1968, but we've never seen someone after millions of votes have been cast.�
Now that President Biden has announced his intention not to seek renomination, the question has come up as to what will happen over the next month leading into the convention in Chicago.
“On one hand, the process is already in place for the Democratic nominee, and President Biden received the votes of almost all of the delegates to the convention,� said Mulligan. “They are now free to support whomever they want.�
President Biden announced his support for his Vice President Kamala Harris to be the nominee coming out of the convention.
“At this point, she's in a very strong position,� Mulligan explained, “and at this point, it would be very surprising if someone other than she would become the Democratic nominee.�
If someone did want to challenge Harris for the top spot on the ticket � Mulligan says they better act fast.
“The process is going to move very quickly from here on out because the Democratic convention is coming up, and that's when the nominee will be chosen.�
This means, who comes out as the nominee could impact voters this November.
“I don't feel Democrats are the best and I sometimes don't feel Republicans are the best,� said voter Keith Ridgley. “I like to make my own decisions. I'm an independent man and I like to make my own independent decisions.�
The work has already started to help Harris secure enough pledged delegates to get the nomination before the convention in hopes of uniting the party.
“It is important � the Democrats achieve some unity with respect to their candidate,� said Mulligan. “I think that they're moving quickly in that direction because they know that they need a strong candidate to defeat Trump, and probably she is their best bet for doing that.�
