US election race: Biden quits, Harris set to run?
US President Joe Biden has withdrawn as a candidate in the US presidential election in November: "While it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down," the 81-year-old explained. Over the past few weeks the doubts about his candidacy had grown ever louder, even within his own ranks. Europe's press looks at who will take up the baton.
An honourable gesture
Joe Biden has done his country a great service, says The Guardian:
“In withdrawing from the presidential race, Biden has given the country a fighting chance to defeat Trump and avert the worst of what the far right has planned for America. He has chosen to preserve the prospect of a Democratic victory in November even at the expense of his own ego, even at the cost of what must be a profound personal humiliation. Many politicians - most conspicuously Trump himself - have made it clear that there is nothing they value more than their own aggrandizement. Biden has shown that there is something he prizes more highly than himself. Whatever you think of Biden the man, it is an honorable gesture that he made on Sunday.”
Doubts about the vice
Biden's endorsement for Harris doesn't mean it's a done deal that she will be the Democratic candidate, La Repubblica explains:
“Because this is his personal decision, which many Democratic leaders and elected officials do not agree with. And this is where the most difficult challenge begins for the party, which will hold its most high-risk convention since the one that followed Lyndon Johnson's retirement in 1968 on 19 August in Chicago. The 4,600 delegates will decide who gets the nomination. Doubts about Harris have been voiced by Nancy Pelosi, the former speaker of the House of Representatives, and Chuck Schumer, leader of the Democrats in the Senate, because in recent weeks polls have shown that Kamala has even less chances of beating Trump than Biden.”
More exciting and less scary
Kamala Harris's chances aren't at all bad, Expressen believes:
“Harris may not be a fixed star in the US political firmament, but she's a better choice than a frail Biden: coming up to 60 she's comparatively young but at the same time experienced. A presidential race between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump will be a choice between a tough-on-crime prosecutor and a convicted felon. As a prosecutor in California, Harris campaigned for harsh penalties for gun violence. She has also long been involved in the abortion issue, which could be key in mobilising centrist voters. ... The November election just got more exciting and less scary. It's too early to write off the Democrats.”
She's not the best bet
Donald Trump has good chances of winning the election against Kamala Harris too, says wPolityce:
“Biden has withdrawn from his re-election campaign and Kamala Harris is set to take his place (although this is not official yet). The powerful liberal camp, which has dehumanised conservatives and labelled their candidates as populists, is wonderfully compromising itself. Biden may be frail, but his vice president is, to put it mildly, not the sharpest tool in the shed. Trump, who was supposed to be knocked out and banished to the island of St. Helena, is making a strong comeback.”
Biden should step aside completely
Harris's chances would improve if Biden were to step down as president too, writes Der Standard:
“As Biden's vice president, she enters the fight against Trump with a burden. She has to defend the work of the government but lacks the advantages of a head of state. And she has to answer the question of whether Biden is still fit for office if he can no longer run for president. It would be better if Biden were to step down as president soon and let Harris move into the Oval Office. It's clear that he personally has difficulties with this. But if the strategy works and Harris defeats Trump, this step would make him look like an even better president in retrospect.”