Political What If

For John, BLUF:  What happens if Candidate Joe Biden drops out for one reason or another?  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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If one is doing long term planning it is usually helpful to plan out branches and sequels.

Here are definitions for the terms branches and sequels:

1. Branches provide a range of alternatives often built into the basic plan. Branches add flexibility to plans by anticipating situations that could alter the basic plan.  Such situations could be a result of adversary action, availability of friendly capabilities or resources, or even a change in the weather or season within the OA.
2. Sequels anticipate and plan for subsequent operations based on the possible outcomes of the current operation—victory, defeat, or stalemate.

As we look at the political landscape we see out there the question posed by last week's article from The New York Post.  There is a chance the revealed EMails are authentic.  There is also a small, but greater than zero, chance that the EMails released point to Candidate Biden being unacceptably compromised with regard to one foreign power or another.

This, in turn, leads to the question of if Candidate Biden is sufficiently compromised that the Democratic National Committee (DNC) feels it must replace him on the ticket before the 3 November General Election.

A momentous step, replacing Candidate Biden shouldn't be that hard mechanically, in that all of us who vote are voting for a slate of Electoral College Electors.

But, who would be the replacement?  Would the DNC just fleet up the Vice Preidential Candidate, Sentor Kamala Harris?  Is there an alternative, such as Senator Bernie Sanders, or an outlier, such as Governor Andrew Cuomo?

Then the DNC has to make this all copacetic with the various states.

Then the DNC has to socialize this with the voters.  That will require a major advertising effort. There are less than two weeks left.

Then the People vote.  The question is, what if one voted early for Candidate Biden, but doesn't wish for that vote to transfer to the new DNC Candidate?  Will it be possible for those early voters to call back their vote and substitute a new ballot?  Or, will they be disenfranchised?  A major monkey wrench in the works would be some court ruling that all votes cast before the switch are invalid and need to be done over?  Ouch!

It is all verey unlikely, but good planning requires that it be a branch considered.

As an aside, Congress decides the date of the election.

Regards  —  Cliff