It does seem like a weird type of American Exceptionalism that European nations can do in a few months what takes us years. It’s obviously possible to do things quickly. But the parties themselves aren’t set up to run that way.
And the rest of the Democrats just fall in line behind whoever wins instead of continuing the infighting, just like that. I don’t see it.
France’s constitution was written in 1958. Britain doesn’t even have a written constitution and any aspect of government can be modified by Parliament as it pleases. We’re stuck with a constitution that was written for a loose federation of pre-industrial agrarian states whose economies were mostly based on slave labor and is now essentially impossible to amend.
I agree.
They could hold, say, two debates with the leading candidates. I am confident those debates would be civil, because the likely debaters do not have big ideological differences among them, and the big worry is Trump. Then the leading polling organizations would give an highly imperfect idea as to how real primaries might have come out. But what if the Democrats in the polls favors candidate A, but candidate B polls better in the full electorate horse race against Trump?
It seems to me that if Biden drops out, it has to be up to the convention delegates. Almost all are Center-left Biden delegates. The thought of them does not panic me. I look forward to respecting their decision.
The DNC doesn’t run primaries, the various states that don’t do caucuses do. Caucuses are completely party-run, if I recall correctly. But the last time I voted in a primary, the county board of elections ran it in the same manner as the general election, and there were some non-primary elections (referenda, as I recall) on the primary ballot.
Do the various states that don’t do caucuses (most of them) even have laws allowing for calling of “snap” primaries, or are their election laws written for the usual scheduling of primary and general elections? If a red state’s election laws don’t allow for a “snap” primary, is there a chance in Hades that a blood-red legislature is going to amend the law to allow a sudden late Dem primary? The second question is rhetorical, but the first isn’t.
Nowhere in the Constitution does it say that presidential primaries have to be held on different days over the course of six freaking months. We can just hold all of them on the same day. It doesn’t require an amendment. It also doesn’t say there has to be some complicated system with delegates and superdelegates. You can just hold a normal vote.
Neither do I. But then, there is no option that isn’t awful.
Probably not. But again, maybe it would be different if they had started laying some groundwork two or even four years ago. It was obvious then that an event like this was at least a possibility.
I’ll accept one that is less awful.
No, instead we have 50 freaking states who write their own election laws. And in the majority of those states Republicans control at least one house of the state legislature.
Sure, but that also means the states could tell both parties “We’re not paying for your personal nominating process.” The Democrats might be able to get the states to print ballots and run sites for a one day primary, possibly needing to pay for it. Or they could run fifty caucuses on their dime and ignore the state entirely. Or they could do what was done forever and debate and select a nominee among delegates to the convention.
Over New Hampshire’s dead body they will.
Or just do the whole thing via mail. Surely the state party committies have the registration information. It would not be a normal primary or caucus, or have any official standing at all, except that the delegates would pledge their vote to whoever was the overall winner. Make it ranked-choice for good measure.
We dont need a Veep. Look, if Biden does drop out, Harris will take his place- as the candidate. Someone else will be her Veep candidate.
Biden just stays until Jan 20.
If the party does it, it has official status. Remember, these are private organizations that can do things any way they want.
The DNC neither can nor will drop Biden from the ticket- without his say so.
Not what I wrote and not what I meant. They can tell Biden to go pound sand if they change their procedures according to their own bylaws.
The DNC neither can nor will do that. Period.
Or they could run fifty caucuses on their dime and ignore the state entirely.
God help us, no! “Snap” caucuses – and open primaries (can get a different party’s ballot at each primary election) – will be overrun by MAGA ratfckery and will be of dubious value for determining the actual most-likely-to-beat-Trump Dem.
Caucuses generally are dominated by the few people with the time and/or drive to spend hours in some school gym or church hall. For the same reasons they feel like a quaint town-meeting throwback to some, they’re not suited to voting or electing delegates in big metropolitan areas. What’s the most populous state that uses caucuses, anyhow?
But hold a snap caucus with no state participation, and how do you determine who’s a Dem for purposes of participating in the caucus? Anyone registered to vote, de facto using the state election registration apparatus? Then it’s not just Dems voting. Who declares solemnly that they’re a Democrat? Not worth the paper it’s written on. 
Who’s made a campaign contribution to a Dem? Weeds out the poor, and no bar to a MAGA willing to “waste” a couple of bucks to screw with the Dem vote.
Generally, open primaries are subject to a modest amount of gamesmanship (voting in the other party’s primary when you see no great need to vote in your own party’s primary), limited by having to pick one party’s ballot because both primaries are on the same day. But when only one party is holding a primary, I’m fairly certain we’ll move from a few people engaging in gamesmanship to loads of MAGAs ratfcking, as they’d be told on social media.
Stop arguing against a point I am not making.
The start of this chain of discussion was King’s statement that Biden should step down. So that is obviously a prerequisite for everything that follows.
By “official” I mean affiliated with the state. Normal primary elections are run by the state and presumably come with extra rules which make it difficult to hold a snap election. But as you say, parties are private organizations that can (mostly) do what they want on their own dime. It’s effectively a primary even if it isn’t explicitly state-sanctioned.
Not in my state they don’t, because we have a top-two open primary system and there isn’t even a way to declare a party affiliation when you register.