Professor: Biden drop-out shifts election focus to ‘next generation’

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Will President Joe Biden dropping out of the bid for the 2024 presidential ticket help or hurt the Democratic Party?

A political science professor emeritus at Calvin University believes it will help.

“So many voters were opposed, but Republicans, Democrats and independent voters did not want to see a Trump-Biden rematch, even the Democratic Party and the independents and now we won’t have that,” said Doug Koopman, professor emeritus at Calvin University.

With Biden dropping out of the race Sunday, it could be a chance for Vice President Kamala Harris to step up.

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“We’ll probably have a candidate of the next generation, arguably, in the Democratic Party and it looks like the Vice President Kamala Harris is on track to be the favorite in the presidential nomination,” Koopman said.

The political conversation will be different going forward.

“It’s no longer going to be about how old Joe Biden is. It’s no longer going to be about the Biden Administration policy in the Middle East, it’s going to be about the next generation and who a good leader is, what a good presidential nomination is, what a good ticket is,” said Koopman.

The country will be watching closely to see how the Democratic Party will move forward. Biden has strongly endorsed Harris, but she is not guaranteed the nomination.

After Biden drops out of 2024 race, does Kamala Harris become the Democratic nominee? Not exactly

“The delegates that go to the Democratic National Convention … are pledged to a particular person and after the first couple of rounds, then they are free to vote for someone else. So Joe Biden has released all of his delegates, but they are free to do whatever they want, vote for whoever they want. If other people join the contest and want to run for president as well, once President Biden releases his delegates, they are free to pick who they want the nominee to be,” Koopman explained.

When it comes to other Democratic stars like California’s Governor Gavin Newsome and Governor Gretchen Whitmer from Michigan, Koopman says, “they have already said that they endorse Kamala Harris so it’s not impossible to have a convention fight, but it looks quite good for Vice President Kamala Harris to be elevated to the presidential nominee.”

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