Even though President Joe Biden reiterated to congressional Democrats today that he has no intention to withdraw from the race for a second term, calls continue from within his own party for him to drop out – which then begs the question: Who would the Democrats run at the top of the ticket?
Many liberal news outlets have touted Vice President Kamala Harris – despite her unpopularity even among Democrats – as the logical candidate to step into that spot. But in a recent poll of registered voters, former First Lady Michelle Obama is the only listed Democratic candidate who would defeat Trump … by a whopping 50% to 39%. The same Reuters/Ipsos survey found Trump in a dead heat with Biden but leading every other potential Democratic candidate.
Jenna Ellis is a former attorney for Trump and host of her daily program on American Family Radio.
"I think if Michelle Obama runs, then she is likely to win. We've seen that reflected in the polls," she tells AFN. "And a lot of politicos in DC on both sides have been talking about that for a while. But I think that the Trump campaign should be very concerned, regardless of whoever it is that would be nominated instead of Joe Biden. Trump has the best chance against Joe Biden."
Ellis contends there may be another strategy afoot: "I think that Michelle Obama could potentially have the strategy of running to simply win and then resign shortly after she would be inaugurated so that her vice president could be set up to attain the presidency."
She also suggests Trump may end up regretting that he agreed to participate in the CNN debate with Biden.
"… Because if the Democrats did have that as the opportunity to showcase and kickstart their pressure campaign that results in a replacement of Joe Biden, then it is not favorable to Trump," Ellis explains. "So, he may have unwittingly played into their plan to replace Biden."
Other potential Democratic candidates listed in the Reuters/Ipsos poll (beside Vice President Harris and Michelle Obama) were California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
Speaking realistically, it can only be Kamala
Despite the results of the Reuters/Ipsos poll, political scientist Dr. David Cohen believes at this point Kamala Harris is the only pragmatic choice to replace Joe Biden on the top of the Democratic ticket.
"If this were a year ago, you could have had an actual primary race and candidates could jump into the primary election," says the University of Akron political science professor. "But we're just a few weeks before the [Democratic] convention, she's the only one that will inherit the Biden Harris campaign funds – and she's the sitting vice president.
"So, I don't think it's realistic to think that there's anybody else who could take Biden's place as the nominee."
Cohen is convinced Biden's replacement is inevitable and doubts the president can recover from his poor showings during the debate and during interviews. "… As long as he [remains] in the race, the focus will solely be on Biden and his mental acuity and not be on Trump," he states.
"Who's going to tell him [he needs to withdraw]? I think it's going to have to be some Democratic powerhouses like what happened in 1974 when you had Republican senators go to the Oval Office to tell Richard Nixon he needed to resign. I think you're going to see some Democratic heavyweights have to have the tough conversation with him."
Cohen made his comments during an appearance on the Fox News Channel.
Editor's note: Comments from Dr. David Cohen were added after this story was originally published.
