Biden ends re-election bid, upending White House race

President Joe Biden’s decision to pull out of the United States presidential race as Democratic nominee has sent shock waves through the political world.

In a Sunday statement on his X handle, Biden said, “I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term.”

Shortly after, the president declared his support for Vice President Kamala Harris to take on the bid.

“My fellow Democrats, I have decided not to accept the nomination and to focus all my energies on my duties as President for the remainder of my term. My very first decision as the party nominee in 2020 was to pick Kamala Harris as my Vice President. And it’s been the best decision I’ve made.

“Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year. Democrats — it’s time to come together and beat Trump. Let’s do this,” Biden wrote on X.

The developments followed a stumbling debate performance that widely alarmed Democrats about the 81-year-old president’s fitness for office and ability to defeat former president Donald Trump who recently escaped an assassination plot.

Biden’s withdrawal leaves the Democrats in an unprecedented position with months until the November election.

Apart from the new twist likely to shape political strategy in the Republican party where Trump is the face, it also creates a new battleground for Democrats eying the presidential ticket.

AFP reports that for years, Harris faced criticism that she was not up to the job of being a heartbeat away from the presidency. Now, she finds herself feted by Democrats as their best hope to stop Trump’s comeback.

Despite blazing a trail as the first woman, Black and South Asian vice president in US history, the 59-year-old Democrat long struggled with approval ratings as bad or worse than Biden’s.

The last 12 months, however, have revealed a transformed Harris. And with Biden’s endorsement of Harris after stunning the world by dropping his reelection bid, she’s suddenly on the cusp of history.

The two-term governor of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer, is also an increasingly popular Midwest Democrat who many pundits speculate will run for president in 2028, a BBC report said.

She has campaigned for Biden in the past and has not been shy about her political aspirations. She told the New York Times she wants to see a Generation X president in 2028, but stopped short of suggesting that she might fill that role.

In 2022, she led a campaign that left Michigan Democrats in control of the state’s legislature and the governor’s mansion.

That political control allowed her to enact a number of progressive policies including protecting Michigan abortion access and the passage of gun safety measures.

Also, California Governor Gavin Newsom is one of the Biden administration’s fiercest surrogates. He frequently appears on cable news networks praising Biden.

But Newsom has political ambitions of his own. According to BBC, Newson is often listed as a possible 2028 candidate, but many Democratic pundits now say he could be a stand-in for Biden.

The report also states that it is no secret that Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has presidential aspirations. He ran for president in 2020 and is often touted as one of the Biden administration’s best communicators.

Other top shots that may be gunning for the Democrat’s ticket include Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro who has seen high approval ratings since he was elected in 2022 in a swing state Trump narrowly carried in 2016, and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker who has raised his profile in recent years by going after Trump and defending Biden.

The list of potential nominees stretches beyond the Democrats listed above, as the party has developed a deep bench of possible future presidential candidates.

According to BBC, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, a two-term Democratic governor in a very conservative state, has earned growing national attention since his re-election last year.

Maryland Governor Wes Moore found himself in the spotlight in recent months following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore.

Senators Amy Klobuchar and Cory Booker have run for president in the past and have some name recognition among Democrats.