LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Joe Biden's performance at Thursday night's presidential debate has many people wondering if the president should step aside, and a certain Kentuckian is among the names being bantered.
Gov. Andy Beshear is considered one of the biggest names and brightest stars in the Democratic party and just won re-election last November. He defeated Republican Daniel Cameron by winning over 52% of the vote in a state Donald Trump carried in 2020 by 26 points.
Biden sounded hoarse and spoke quietly throughout Thursday's debate, and appeared to lose his train of thought more than once. According to CNN, many Biden advisers spent Friday morning calling Democrats in Congress in an attempt to reduce "widespread panic" about the debate and perceived damage done to Biden’s re-election chances. CNN’s John King reported Thursday night Democratic strategists, elected officials and fundraisers were having conversations about how to proceed, including the possibility of going to the White House and asking Biden to “step aside.”
Could Democrats choose another candidate?
There is no evidence Biden plans to reconsider his run for a second term. A spokesman said Friday the president will not suspend his campaign.
It would be difficult for the party to choose another candidate, but not impossible.
Every state has already held its presidential primary. Democratic rules mandate that the delegates Biden won remain bound to support him at the party's upcoming national convention unless he tells them he’s leaving the race.
The conventions and their rules are controlled by the political parties. The Democratic National Committee could convene before the convention opens on Aug. 19 and change how things will work, but that isn't likely as long as Biden wants to continue seeking reelection.
The current rules read: “Delegates elected to the national convention pledged to a presidential candidate shall in all good conscience reflect the sentiments of those who elected them.”
If Biden opts to abandon his reelection campaign, Vice President Kamala Harris would likely join other top Democratic candidates looking to replace him. But that would probably create a scenario where she and others end up lobbying individual state delegations at the convention for their support.
That hasn't happened for Democrats since 1960, when John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson jockeyed for votes during that year’s Democratic convention in Los Angeles.
If Biden were to abruptly leave the race, conservative groups have suggested they will file lawsuits around the country, potentially questioning the legality of the Democratic candidate's name on the ballot.
But Elaine Kamarck, a senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution in Washington, who wrote a book about the presidential nominating process and is also a member of the Democratic National Committee’s rulemaking arm, said that courts have consistently stayed out of political primaries as long as parties running them weren’t doing anything that would contradict other constitutional rights, such as voter suppression based on race.
“This is very clear constitutionally that this is in the party’s purview,” Kamarck said in an interview before the debate. “The business of nominating someone to represent a political party is the business of the political party.”
What has Beshear said about future political plans?
Beshear has been mostly non-committal about future political aspirations, although many experts and pundits believe he'll be in the mix to run for president in 2028.
In December, Beshear sat down with WHAS11 shortly after his re-election and was asked about his future.
"I don't have any plans beyond these next four years," he said. "It's the first time in my life where I don't know what's next. But I'm also not worried about it for the first time in my life. This is the job that I love. I can't imagine any of those others would be possibilities in the future, but the only way I would do it is if I felt I could make a some extra difference."
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One seat we know Beshear has no interest in is Sen. Mitch McConnell's.
McConnell announced last year he would step down from his leadership position in the U.S. Senate in November, but fulfill his term, which expires in January 2027.
Beshear was asked in February about running for that seat, and he answered with a definitive "no."
"I promised to serve out my term as governor and I'm gonna do that," Beshear said. "As governor, you're not one of 50, you're one of one. And what you can do for the people of your state is so important."