Biden November ballot woes – a ruse?

Biden November ballot woes – a ruse?
By Terry A. Hurlbut
Does Joe Biden really face exclusion from the general election ballot by reason of delay of certification? Now three chief State election officers have written precisely that to the Democratic National Committee. This has generated a great deal of noise about “partisan” official nitpicking in two States, and the making of an irregular exception in the last. But all of it could be a sham. In point of fact, the Democratic Party does not want to get “stuck” with Biden. They will do everything within their power to substitute another candidate, one they believe has a better chance of winning. This ruckus about candidate certification could be their means of choice. That holds especially since this has never been a problem before, no matter how late the Party in power holds its nominating convention.
Warnings about Biden losing ballot access
The first warning about Joe Biden not being on a Presidential election ballot came from Ohio on Tuesday. Among other organs, Cleveland.com, the Internet counterpart to The Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio), carried the story. Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose officially notified Democrats that they must certify a nominee on August 7. Otherwise, that candidate’s name would not appear on the ballot this fall.
Cleveland.com noted that this has been a problem in nearly every Presidential election cycle for more than ten years. The problem has always been with the lateness of the schedules for nominating conventions. By tradition, the Party out of power holds its convention in July, and the Party in power holds its convention in August. But how late in August? The Democrats will not actually convene until August 19, and that only for keynote speeches. Their only alternative – officially – is to convene beginning July 29 instead – three weeks earlier.
On the other hand, never before has any Presidential candidate failed to qualify for the ballot in all States. At least, not on procedural grounds alone. Harry S. Truman and Lyndon B. Johnson were off the ballot in Alabama in their respective elections. But that’s only because Alabama’s Democratic Party refused to support them.
And, of course, the Democrats made much of Mr. LaRose being a Republican. They accused him of sending the letter merely to call attention to himself.
Previous warnings about this issue
Typically, State legislatures end up passing special acts to waive the administrative deadline for the late convention. This happened in 2012 and 2020 in Ohio. Before then, Ohio required a ninety-day deadline beginning in 2009. And the Party in power has never met that deadline.
The National Association of Secretaries of State passed three resolutions urging the Parties to hold their conventions “on time.” Frank LaRose became co-chair of the NASS elections committee in 2020.
LaRose is the first Secretary of State to notice the deadline conflict. But later this week, the Alabama Secretary of State noticed the same issue. The Alabama Reflector discussed that issue, and carried the same kind of criticism from Democrats. Again, the Secretary of State is a Republican. Alabama’s deadline is August 15 – somewhat later than Ohio’s, but still too early.
Technically, exclusion from the ballot would make no difference to Biden, or to Vice-President Kamala Harris. Ohio ceased to be a “bellwether,” “battleground,” or “swing” State in 2016. The last Democrat to carry Alabama was Jimmy Carter in 1976. So Trump is likely to carry those States anyway.
But if neither Biden nor any Democrat appears on either ballot, down-ticket Democrats will suffer. This applies especially to House candidates, and county and municipal officeholders. In big cities. Think Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati, Ohio, and Montgomery, Birmingham, and Mobile, Alabama.
And now a Democratic State has this problem?
But Thursday came the development that could blow the gaffe. Washington State’s Deputy Secretary of State in charge of elections has sent a similar notice! Washington State’s deadline is August 20 – which is platform debate day for the Democrats.
But because Washington State’s officials are Democrats, they were the first to offer a quick fix. They have asked the Democrats to certify Biden – or some candidate – provisionally by August 20.
ABC News cites “experts” as accusing “red-State officials” of sticking to the rules as they never did before. One such “expert” is at the Brookings Institution. Elaine Kamarck – a senior fellow at Brookings and a Democratic National Committee member – said:
This has not been something anybody has ever dealt with. … [The GOP Secretaries] just cooked it up. No, this has never happened before.
Dr. Steve Turley cynically predicted that Ohio’s officials would cut a deal. “Democrats own; Republicans rent,” he said.
https://rumble.com/v4oaix0-biden-may-not-be-on-the-ballot-in-this-key-swing-state.html?mref=4teej&mc=88ce6
Thus far the Biden campaign has been writing back to offer provisional certifications – and to threaten a Constitutional crisis if Biden does not appear on the ballot in every State in the Union, regardless of deadlines.
Where Biden might be going instead
Elaine Kamarck is not being entirely correct or honest. After all, the National Association of Secretaries of State has warned the Parties repeatedly that they are needlessly delaying their nominating conventions. 2020, the Year of the P(l)andemic, was a special case, which no one questions today.
But the Democrats have a worse problem, and they know it. Their President (Resident!) has nothing to run on. Economic statistics have come out that even their tame legacy media could not ignore. One could readily see the moues of disgust, and the obvious gorge swallowing motions, as various anchorpeople had to admit that the effective rate of inflation is eighteen percent. Recall also the MSNBC anchorwoman who threw her script into the air at the anchor desk in frustration.
Then listen to the man himself. A typical listener cannot understand what he is saying – and he gives every indication of not knowing himself. In 1973, Robert J. Ringer described a “mumbler” who mumbles for effect, to hide his cleverness in negotiation. Biden is not an example of this.
If not Biden, who?
The Democrats have been whispering about replacing Biden since December of 2023. Their most recent speculation happened in February. John L. Dorman of Business Insider listed seven possible candidates then:
• Kamala Harris, moving up from Vice-President to President,
• Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.),
• Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-Mich.),
• Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.),
• Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.),
• Gov. Roy Cooper (D-N.C.), and
• Gov. Wes Moore (D-Md.)
Each of these people would have a good incentive to try for the prize. Kamala Harris has been measuring the drapes from day one. Gavin Newsom and Gretchen Whitmer each has a socialist, civilian-disarmament, and Doctor Moreau-like agenda to push. (The “T” in the Alphabet Soup of “alternative lifestyles” is something only Jules Verne’s most detestable villain could love.) The two blue-State Senators have much the same stake. Wes Moore would love the limelight. And Roy Cooper, a Democrat with a veto-proof Republican legislature basically telling him how to run his State, is the lamest of lame ducks today.
But let’s not neglect that scion of the Democrats’ favorite political dynasty, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. He differs from Democrats on one major issue: the folly of artificial active acquired immunity. Kennedy has opposed the current childhood vaccination schedule as assiduously as he opposed the coronavirus vaccines. For what it’s worth, he also opposes the “Doctors Moreau” who seek to turn little boys into girls and vice-versa. But on every other issue, he toes the line.
Bottom line
In sum, the latest dust-up about Biden missing a ballot access deadline is a sham. Never before has this been a problem – and the Washington State incident gives the game away. Of course those election officials will accept provisional certification. After all, Presidential nominating conventions are a formality. That goes double for the party in power, renominating their incumbents. The last time anyone had any doubts about the outcome of a nominating convention was in 1976. Ronald W. Reagan and incumbent Gerald R. Ford came to a convention full of “uncommitted delegates.” Neither man had a clear majority. The gamesmanship – and games-woman-ship between Nancy Reagan and Betty Ford, with their competing Grand Entrances – ultimately settled the matter. And no one – ever – brought up whether Ford and Bob Dole were too late to get on the ballot.
So don’t let the Kabuki Theater among these Secretaries of State (including Republicans from the RINO Wing) fool you. This is about substituting a candidate who might be able to win, for an incumbent who cannot win. Not even Dominion Voting (or Election Systems and Software) can save Biden now. They know it, so they have Bobby Kennedy or Roy Cooper or Gavin Newsom waiting in the wings.
Which should remind everyone, including President Trump, of the folly of campaigning on Whether You Want The Other Guy. Trump needs to campaign on what he will do for the people, not on what Biden has done to them.
Link to:
Dr. Steve Turley’s take on the Ohio incident:
https://rumble.com/v4oaix0-biden-may-not-be-on-the-ballot-in-this-key-swing-state.html?mref=4teej&mc=88ce6

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