How Dem chaos 72yrs ago led to reluctant candidate being FORCED to run for President…before he was crushed by GOP
OVER 70 years ago, in 1952, Democratic presidential candidate Stevenson was made to run against Republican Eisenhower – who defeated him in a landslide win.
It was the last time a sitting president had pulled out as late as Joe Biden and the first ever US election without an incumbent president on the ballot.
Adlai Stevenson had to compete for a vote against his colleagues at the 1952 Democratic National Convention, coming out on top.
Then President Harry Truman had met with him and pushed him to seek the nomination, promising to support him if he did.
A number of their colleagues began to quietly put together a “draft Stevenson” movement to make him President – even when Stevenson himself told them to stop.
Despite his wishes to run for another term in Illinois, and not the White House, he was a better candidate for the party than the alternatives.
After repeated calls to run, he eventually agreed to stand against Democratic colleagues at the Convention as delegates voted.
He emerged victorious on the ballot that year and had to run for president against Eisenhower.
But the Republicans, or Grand Old Party (GOP), beat him with more than 55 per cent of the vote.
Following Biden’s withdrawal from the race on Sunday, Democratic party delegates are due to select a new nominee outside of the traditional primary process for the first time in over 50 years.
The choice of Biden’s replacement, for which he has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, 59, could be decided before the convention with a virtual vote.
US law states that the some 3,900 out of 4,000 Democratic delegates who backed Biden should now back his top choice – Harris.
But they are technically free to vote however they like and could choose a different candidate to select as the party’s nominee.
Other high-profile Democrats including Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer and Gavin Newsom have been touted as possible options – meaning a crunch vote at the Convention could be on the cards.
It comes as…
- Biden admits stepping aside is “in the best interest” of the Democratic Party
- He immediately endorses Vice President Kamala Harris, who vows to “earn” the Democratic nomination
- Trump slams Biden as the “worst president in history” and says Kamala will be “easier to defeat”
- House Speaker Mike Johnson, GOP VP nominee JD Vance and other GOP call on Biden to resign if he’s “not fit to run”
- Expert warns Biden dropping out is bad news for Republicans
- Bill and Hillary Clinton endorse Harris but Barack Obama doesn’t
- Timeline reveals Biden’s failed re-election bid from debate disaster to Democrat betrayals
- Gavin Newsom tops list of names floated as possible replacements for Biden
If someone else hopes to sweep Harris and secure a spot as the Democratic nominee, they would have to win the signatures of 600 delegates.
Then they would go up against Harris in a Primary-style debate to get a majority share of votes from some 4,000 party delegates.
If several different candidates secure a nomination but none get a majority – a “brokered convention” would take place.
Meaning delegates can vote for anyone who puts their name forward in as many rounds of voting as it takes to secure a candidate.
This is what happened in 1952, when Stevenson reluctantly secured his nomination for the Democratic Presidential candidate.
Brett Bruen, former aide to President Barack Obama, told The Sun “I think without question, it will be Kamala Harris,” to get the official nomination.
Two reasons will propel her nomination, he tells us: “she stands to inherit the war chest that the Biden-Harris campaign had accumulated, and she is the Vice President”.
Biden’s team raked in an incredible $264 million this year and reportedly finished June with $240 million cash to splash.
If Harris is chosen, campaign finance law means she could share the funds with Biden because her name is already approved on the ticket.
Brett told The Sun some $27 million was raised in just the first few hours of Harris’ campaign.
He thinks “there will be tens, even hundreds of millions contributed because there was a lot of money sitting on the sidelines”.
“There was money from, quite frankly, folks like me who gave last time and were not giving this time,” Brett said.
This could “erase much of the money momentum Trump has had”, he told The Sun.