A group of Democratic National Convention (DNC) delegates pledged to Joe Biden are raising the possibility of a floor revolt against the 81-year-old incumbent. The convention, which will take place August 19-22, would normally be a simple coronation of Biden, who handily won the Democratic presidential primary. However, major donors and national Democratic Party leaders are believed to be stoking a rebellion against Biden’s nomination at the convention following his cognitively impaired June 27 debate performance.
In response to the revolt, the Biden campaign must dedicate resources to reinforcing support among their convention delegates. While the dozens-strong group of dissenters is still relatively small in number, the ongoing panic among Democratic lawmakers and donors risks the delegate revolt escalating into a chaotic convention floor fight.
According to one convention delegate, the Biden campaign phoned them and asked a series of probing questions. “Do you understand what being a pledged delegate means?” the individual said the campaign asked. They added that the Biden staffers followed up, pressing: “Do you have any potential disagreements with the president?”
In another instance, a delegate says the Biden campaign was blunt, asking: “Is there any reason you couldn’t or wouldn’t support the president at the convention?”
The line of questioning likely indicates the Biden re-election campaign is unsure as to what extent a potential delegate rebellion has spread.
A large-scale delegate revolt could undermine an often-used Democratic line of attack against former President Donald J. Trump, whom they accuse of being a threat to democracy. If delegates are successful in ousting Biden, it would overturn the decision of rank-and-file Democrat voters who overwhelmingly backed his decision to run for re-election during the party’s primary elections.
