Monthly Archives: June 2024

Q: My wife and I saw these buddleias (see reader's photo) at Oaklawn on June 7. Can you identify the variety?

A:I do not know the exact variety, but I can tell it is one of the new compact forms with large flowers. There are several series. The Pugster series from Proven Winners only grows 2 feet tall and 3 feet wide but produces large blooms. The Chrysalis series from Ball Seed has five color choices and grows up to 28 inches tall and wide. Other compact buddleias include the Flutterby Petite series and the Dapper series. They are all good plants for full sun. If I were a betting person, I would put money on the Pugster Blue, but that is just an educated guess.

Q: Can you identify this milkweed from the photograph (see reader's photo)? It has broad leaves, big fat seedpods; I do not know what color or type of flower. I thought it was swamp milkweed, but another gardener up here questions that.

A: It looks more like common milkweed to me -- Asclepias syriaca. It has larger leaves and wartier fruits than swamp milkweed in my observations.

Q:Are these seeds from an oak tree (see reader's photo)? Noticed several trees in the area that shed these.

A: Unfortunately, they aren't seeds, but droppings from a caterpillar feeding on the oak. So it is poop! The feeding of the caterpillars won't hurt the tree usually, but they can be a nuisance in large numbers, dropping debris on patios and swimming pools. The seeds of oak trees are acorns, and they aren't ripe just yet.

Q: About eight years or so ago, I planted two Amaryllis bulbs about 8 feet apart in my yard out in the open full sun. In the ensuing years, I haven't mulched, fertilized or in any other way worked on these plantings. They die back yearly, and the foliage piles up on top. Come spring, they grow beautifully and have spread to a couple clumps of them about 3 feet across. Presently they have scads of beautiful pink blooms and lush foliage. They've never been watered, fertilized or in any way cared for. The horrid cold in recent years has apparently not harmed them in any way, and I'm not sure whether I have some "super plants" or what accounts for the above stated! I'm in my early 80s and debility -- not laziness --accounts for my lack of active care of the plants. Does this sound reasonable to you -- given the horrid winters we've had recently?

A: I don't think you have a special variety, but it is a bit of an anomaly. If you read about amaryllis bulbs and hardiness, it shouldn't overwinter in Arkansas' outdoors, but many gardeners have had the same experience you have. Winter drainage will be important because waterlogged soils could make them rot. Obviously, yours have the perfect location and are happy. If it isn't broke, don't fix it! Enjoy.

Q: In order to cut down the height on my corn plant, which is 42 years old, I just saw off the top and replant in new soil. It has previously done well, but this year the prettiest part was looking good, and I took it to my granddaughter's house. As we unloaded it in the sunshine, I realized it had about 7 inches of black residue on the stalk. I smelled it, and part of the mildew smell that I had attributed to the floor after I let a couple plants run over when I overwatered them was coming from the plant. The plant was beautiful and thriving, but I'm afraid the mildew will kill the plant. How can I treat this?

A: My guess is that you have some sooty mold, a byproduct that grows on sticky honeydew -- the droppings given off by sucking insects such as aphids or scale. Check the plant for insects and control those. You can wash off the black sooty mold. Once the insects are dead and not giving off honeydew, you shouldn't have any more mold.

[Gallery not loading above? Click here for more photos arkansasonline.com/carson629/]

By the way, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette wants to see photos of your garden. Submit your photo here to be entered to win a $10 gift card for a local nursery. Submitted photos will also be featured in an ArkansasOnline gallery.

Retired after 38 years with the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service, Janet Carson ranks among Arkansas' best known horticulture experts. Her blog is at arkansasonline.com/planitjanet. Write to her at P.O. Box 2221, Little Rock, AR 72203 or email IN THE GARDEN: Buddleias love the full sunjcarson@arkansasonline.com

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IN THE GARDEN: Buddleias love the full sun | Arkansas Democrat Gazette - Arkansas Online

If President Biden had weekend plans, he should cancel them in favor of some soul-searching. His calamitous debate performance on Thursday raises legitimate questions about whether hes up for another four years in the worlds toughest job. Its incumbent on this incumbent to determine, in conversation with family and aides, whether continuing to seek reelection is in the best interests of the country.

Former president Donald Trump proved emphatically on Thursday why preventing another Trump presidency is the paramount consideration. Mr. Biden faces a personal decision but also a presidential one: What would be best for the country, his personal feelings notwithstanding?

Despite the tenor of some of the insta-reaction to the debate, the choice is not easy. Mr. Biden clinched enough delegates to win the Democratic nomination three months ago. The only way Democrats can nominate someone else at their convention in Chicago seven weeks from now is if the president chooses to step aside. And that would be complicated. Whether it would be more chaotic than Mr. Biden remaining in the race is answerable only if one concludes things cant get worse.

Mr. Biden bowing out would not guarantee a Democratic victory in November. History does not provide any precise precedents, but its notable that Republican challengers prevailed in 1952 and 1968 after Presidents Harry S. Truman and Lyndon B. Johnson both opted not to seek reelection. In the second case, the Democratic convention also in Chicago that year descended into chaos amid protests over the war in Vietnam. The party wound up nominating Johnsons vice president, Hubert H. Humphrey.

Finding a suitable replacement this year, at the last minute, would be more difficult than it was in 1968, and the eventual candidate could emerge politically wounded, as Humphrey did. Mr. Biden has papered over schisms in the Democratic coalition between progressives and traditional liberals, democratic socialists and socially conservative minority voters that would instantly widen into chasms at an open convention. Turning automatically to Vice President Harris, who has struggled to grow into the No. 2 job after running a lackluster presidential campaign of her own five years ago, would pose risks, too.

So whats the 2024 Democratic Party to do? In this day and age, imposing a ticket from on high wont cut it. The best scenario, should Mr. Biden drop out, would be for the party to invite several interested candidates to consider running and ask them to spend the next seven weeks in a series of debates. The convention would then be thrown open to these candidates. The deciders would be Democratic convention delegates, not primary voters. But the process would be transparent.

Yet it would take even more than Mr. Bidens assent for this to happen. Ms. Harris would have to be willing to join in an open race, betting that she would rise to the top. In other words, it would require a degree of patriotism and self-sacrifice that is too often missing from modern politics (any politics, actually).

If Mr. Biden successfully passed the torch, he might be remembered as a 21st-century Cincinnatus a laudable president who shepherded the country out of the covid-19 pandemic, returned a sense of normalcy following the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection, rallied the West to defend Ukraine against Russias full-scale invasion, and signed into law ambitious national climate and industrial plans. If he sticks it out and loses this fall, he risks a different sort of legacy, akin to the late justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, whose refusal to retire while Barack Obama was president led directly to Roe v. Wade being overturned.

Worse, the country would face the consequences of a second Trump term. Mr. Trump lied repeatedly during Thursdays debate, but he did so coherently and with ease. Mr. Biden was no match on the split-screen. Making a credible case against Mr. Trump requires a vigorous opponent. Mr. Biden didnt just suffer a senior moment or two. He repeatedly failed to rebut Mr. Trumps fire hose of falsehoods.

Mr. Biden sounded better at a rally in North Carolina on Friday. His defenders point out that he performed well during his State of the Union address in March. There is ample precedent for incumbents losing a first debate and going on to win reelection. If he forges ahead, Mr. Biden would have four months to rebut fears about his mental acuity and physical stamina. But occasional good performances are a shaky reed on which to balance an election of titanic consequence.

Little good ever came from panicking. Mr. Biden cannot be coerced into doing something he doesnt want to do. Nor should he be. What he can do is what many Americans are doing this weekend wondering whether he is up to the job.

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Opinion | How Biden and the Democrats should think through what to do now - The Washington Post

Concerns about President Joe Bidens age and ability to win a second term have churned within the Democratic Party party for more than a year. Those fears became much harder to ignore after Thursday night, when he struggled through a presidential debate against former President Donald Trump. The 81-year-old Biden fumbled his words, trailed off at points, and repeatedly lost his trains of thought.

Republicans mercilessly mocked the showing and Democrats spiraled into open panic.

At present, there is no clear-cut mechanism to replace Biden as the party's nomineehe already won more than enough delegates during the primaries to secure his nomination ahead of the Democrats national convention in August.

Still, there are ways for Democrats to end up with someone other than Biden at the top of the ticket, especially if Biden willingly steps asidebut the timing, and the Democratic National Committees own regulations, has a lot to do with whats possible, let alone plausible. (Not to mention the challenge of settling on a replacement.)

Here are some of the scenarios for how a Democrat other than Biden could become the party's presidential nominee.

In 1968, Lyndon B. Johnson, then-President and the frontrunner for the Democratic Partys nomination, shocked the country by announcing that he would neither seek nor accept his partys nomination. The announcement came after he almost lost in the New Hampshire primary to Eugene McCarthy.

Then-Vice President Hubert Humphrey, who was nominated for President at the convention later that year, eventually lost to Republican nominee Richard Nixon after a campaign season that saw Robert F. Kennedy gunned down in Los Angeles and George McGovern briefly joining as a stand-in for that vein of liberalism.

Biden has made no such announcement. But if he does decide to withdraw from the race in the coming weeks, delegates will be able to nominate a new candidate, though rules that vary by state will govern who they can back instead.

According to Rule 13, Section J, of the DNCs delegate selection rules, delegates elected to the national convention pledged to a presidential candidate shall in good conscience reflect the sentiment of those who elected them.

This scenario would formally set off an intense fight for the party nomination among those with the name recognition and reputation to sway enough delegates in a very short period. Along with Vice President Kamala Harris, people who may actively vie for the nomination could include Governors Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, Gavin Newsom of California, and J.B. Pritzker of Illinois

Because of a quirk in Ohio law which had required all candidates to be legally certified by Aug. 7more than a week ahead of Bidens scheduled nomination at the convention that opens in Chicago on Aug. 19Democrats are set to formally nominate Biden in a virtual roll call weeks before the convention. (Ohio lawmakers recently passed a law to iron out that quirk, but the DNC has said that the virtual roll call will continue just to be safe.)

Biden may choose to reject the virtual nomination, which was meant to be a formality, setting up delegates to select a new nominee at the Democratic Partys in-person convention, where delegates will still participate in a traditional roll call.

Despite some loud protest votes in primaries, Biden has won a strong majority of the delegates: of an estimated 3,937 pledged delegates assigned in the primaries held so far, Biden is slated to arrive at the DNC confab in Chicago in August with 3,894 promised to be with him on the first vote. The extent to which those delegates are obligated to stick with Biden varies, based on state-by-state rules.

Also in play are 739 automatic delegatesor so-called superdelegates. Those are the party insiders like ex-Presidents, union chiefs, and mega-donors who can vote for anyone they want. In 2018, the party chose to reduce the influence of superdelegates on the nomination process, agreeing that superdelegates would not automatically get to vote on the first ballot.

On paper, the math remains in Bidens favor if he continues to want the nomination. Absent Biden releasing the pledged delegates and state rules allowing such flexibility, theyre with Biden through at least the first round of balloting.

But there are still ways for delegates to, essentially, stage a revolt. This is where Convention Chair Minyon Moore comes in. Under DNC rules, a ruling from the chair can shut down almost anything. Bypassing the ruling of the convention chair would require 25% of the delegates demanding a roll call vote.

Confused yet? Its about to get worse: every DNC jurisdictionthats each of the 50 states, Washington, D.C., American territories, and a jurisdiction representing Democrats who live abroadhas slightly different rules for how to handle thorny convention issues like bypassing a rule of the chair or making changes to their delegation. So how a brokered convention plays out could get incredibly complicated with the worlds eyes trying to make sense of arcane rules being adjudicated in real time on live TV.

This would actually be the cleanest scenario in terms of process and most opaque in terms oflower-case Ddemocratic values.

Under Rule 8, Section G, of the Call for the Democratic National Convention, if the presidential and/or vice presidential nominee dies, resigns, or becomes disabled after the convention, the National Chairperson of the Democratic National Committee shall confer with the Democratic leadership of the United States Congress and the Democratic Governors Association and shall report to the Democratic National Committee, which is authorized to fill the vacancy or vacancies.

Once the nomination is decided at the convention, though, only the nominee can choose to bail. The party cant do it. The party may have second thoughts about their nominee, but if Biden refuses to drop out, theres little to be done other than perhaps applying extraordinary pressures like cutting off the DNCs bankroll and other resources to urge him to change his mind. Once the gavel falls, Democrats are stuck with Biden if he still has a pulse.

If such a scenario unfolds before the presidential inauguration on Jan. 20, 2025, the Vice President-elect would become President, according to the 20th Amendment. (This assumes those in the electoral college acted faithfullythat is, the electors voted for the winner of the election in their states, which have varying levels of stringency in enforcing this behavior.)

If that happens after Biden is inaugurated for a second term on Jan. 20, Kamala Harris would become President, and would be eligible to run for the top job in 2028 for a full four-year term.

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Can Joe Biden Be Replaced? Here's How It Could Happen - TIME

PRESIDENT JOE BIDENs performance in his televised debate with Donald Trump, on June 27th, could hardly have gone worse. With Democratic figures asking if a way can be found to replace him as the candidate for the election in November, what are the options? The main trouble is that he has comfortably secured enough delegates to win his partys nomination. That means that only one person can change who will be the Democratic candidate to face Donald Trump: Mr Biden himself.

The rules do not allow for a rerun of a popular election. To become the party nominee, a candidate needs to win a majority of delegates to the Democratic national convention. The number needed is 1,968 and Mr Biden has already gathered 3,894 because he has run virtually unopposed. No one, including delegates to the convention, can force the president to step aside. But if he were persuaded to withdraw (whether by his wife, or by a posse of Democratic grandees), these delegates would become unbound and therefore free to vote for the nominee of their choosing.

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How could Democrats replace Joe Biden as their candidate for president? - The Economist

A once politically far-fetched question can President Biden be replaced at the top of the Democratic Party presidential ticket has taken on new urgency after Mr. Bidens halting debate performance against former President Donald J. Trump.

The short answer is yes assuming Mr. Biden decides on his own to step aside. But if Mr. Biden decides not to step aside, the short answer is probably no.

Either way, the process would be complicated and would open the door to political upheaval between now and when Democratic delegates gather to vote for a nominee at their convention in August.

Mr. Biden has the power to leave the race and release all the pledged delegates he has accumulated 3,894 of 3,937 committed so far, according to a tally by The Associated Press during his march to the nomination. If he were to do so, those delegates would be free to vote for whomever they chose. That would lead to an open convention, a rarity in modern American politics.

The prospect raises many questions.

No. He could certainly endorse a successor, and that would count for something. But once the delegates are free, they are free. Loyalty to Mr. Biden, which runs deep, does not automatically extend beyond him. And there could be a floor fight over who would emerge as the nominee, highlighting already festering ideological divides in the party, and potentially weakening a future Democratic candidate heading into the fall campaign.

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Could Democrats Replace Biden at the Top of the Presidential Ticket? - The New York Times

Thursday nights debate was, and I dont say this lightly, a disaster without any conceivable parallel in modern American political history for President Joe Biden, the Democratic Party, and anyone who cares about the future of our flawed but vital democracy. The presidents performance on CNN was nightmarishly confused and worrisome. And unless he wants to be buried right next to Ruth Bader Ginsburg in a tiny cemetery full of people who invited widespread calamity because they did not know when to quit, he needs to drop out of this race immediately. Despite the fact that we are less than two months away from the start of the Democratic National Convention, there is still plenty of time for Biden to withdraw from the race and make way for someone, anyone, to take his place. Dont listen to those who say theres no timethe only thing that cant happen is for Biden to go back in time and not run in the first place. Every other option is, and now should be, very much on the table.

There is no denying that we are in uncharted territory, and that a change at the top of the ticket 67 days from the Democratic National Convention would be logistically challenging and potentially divisive, to put it lightly. This isnt anyones dream scenarionot Bidens, not whoever would replace him, and certainly not ours. No one would intentionally put Democrats in a situation where their nominee would be someone who got zero votes and zero delegates in a race they skipped, and the analysts who have been warning about what a mess it would be arent entirely wrong. But the fact that the path to a new nominee who can campaign vigorously against the menace of Donald Trump is difficult is no longer enough reason not to take it. The cold reality of the matter is that many people would be tempted to call 911 if their parents or grandparents showed up to dinner sounding like Biden did Thursday night. Thats no way to head into the most consequential election of our lifetimes unless Democrats are just resigned to losing. And I, for one, am not.

There are essentially three paths to a new Democratic nominee, and all are completely unprecedented. For all of American history, even when modern medicine was still a twinkle in everyones eye, neither party has had to replace a presumptive nominee this close to the election. It might seem crazy, but one path is: Biden could simply resign. And in many ways, this is the easiest and simplest route to a new nominee. When he got back to the White House after the debate, he must have seen or been briefed on the cable news roundtables, the Twitter chatter, and the general atmosphere of total panic that his cataclysmic performance caused in Democratic circles all over the country. Even if, up to that very moment, he truly believed that he was the only person in the country who could beat Donald Trump, he surely cannot believe it any longer unless he has descended into a state of unreachable delusion.

If Biden were to resign, making Vice President Kamala Harris the president, it would instantly resolve any looming debate about what would happen at the Chicago convention in August. A President Harris would have six weeks to build momentum, shore up the partys coalition, and lean into the inherent gravitas of the presidency. Freed from the constraints of the vice presidency, she might just prove a lot of doubters wrong about her political skills. If Harris were even a teeny-tiny bit more popular, there wouldnt be any question about anointing her whatsoever, and it is worth noting that her net disapproval is now lower than either Trumps or Bidens, according to FiveThirtyEight.

Making Harris the president wouldnt turn her into the nominee by acclamation, but it would be very hard for anyone else to compete with her. Bidens delegates would be released, and given that they are loyalists, most of them would likely do whatever he says. If he said, Kamala Harris is now the president and the presumptive nominee; lets unite around her, thats what would happen, without question. It is truly difficult to see how she could do any worse than Biden at this point.

The second path is more complicated. Biden could, instead of resigning, take the LBJ path and say that he has decided not to run for a second term. He could cite health reasons, or family reasonshis only surviving son, after all, was just convicted of three felony countsor say that he has had some kind of epiphany about the need to pass the baton to a younger generation of Americans. And if Kamala Harris isnt the president by the middle of July, she would have no actual claim on the nomination, nor should she. She didnt run, no one voted for her, and if Biden doesnt endorse her, she would just be one contender among many.

The crucial detail is that if and when Biden drops out, his delegates are free to do as they please. And given the looming ballot deadlines in many states, Democrats would probably not have the luxury of waiting until the convention to figure this out. A furious competition would erupt, immediately, between nominees-in-waiting like Harris, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. The target audience wouldnt be ordinary primary voters like you and me, since the primary contests are now 100 percent over, but rather the pledged delegates, as well as the so-called superdelegates to the Democratic National Convention. Thanks to reforms instituted in the wake of the bitter 2016 primary between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, the latter group is prohibited from weighing in on the first ballot at the convention but would definitely come into play in any scenario in which Biden drops out and Harris isnt the president.

The Democratic National Committee would need to devise, in very short order, some kind of process by which the conventions delegates could vote well in advance of the actual convention that begins on Aug. 19, to avoid kneecapping that nominee. The good thing is that theres no law, internal rule, or other obstacle to stop this from happening. In fact, the DNC had already been planning to officially nominate Biden and Harris as the ticket well in advance of the actual convention anyway, to get around an Ohio problem that no longer exists. Democrats were in a panic about the states Aug. 7 filing deadline for candidatesbefore the convention. The deadline meant that if Democrats didnt move up their official nomination from Aug. 19 to before Aug. 7, Biden would not appear on the Ohio ballot in November. So they moved the official nomination up in the calendar accordingly. But Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed a bill in May ensuring that Biden would appear on the ballot anyway.

If they can move up the nomination process that easily, they can also move whatever mountains need to be moved here. They could make the convention virtual and move it up in the calendar. They could hold a series of snap debates between the leading contenders and have the delegates vote in late July or early August. Folks, the DNC is not in the U.S. Constitution, and it can do pretty much whatever it wants.

But it is also possible that Biden cant or wont read the writing on the wall and refuses to bail. In that case, it is up to his own delegates to do the right thing. The DNCs Rule 13, Section J says, Delegates elected to the national convention pledged to a presidential candidate shall in good conscience reflect the sentiment of those who elected them. That is a loophole big enough to drive the worlds ugliest Cybertruck through, because Bidens delegates watched the same debate that the rest of us did and must surely be feeling the same sense of dread and helplessness. And there is nothing in the DNCs rules that would stop them from voting for someone else at the convention, or at some kind of accelerated gathering next month. Thats what good conscience means, and the architects of these rules must have had, at least dimly, some kind of scenario like this in mind: a doddering nominee, in failing health or deteriorating mental condition, who refuses to accept the reality of the situation. Thats where we are. And while it still seems unlikely that Bidens delegates would do this, even after Thursday nights horror show, it doesnt make it impossible.

Even Wednesday, it would have been hard to imagine writing this article, given the closeness of the race. But the bottom line is that the stakes of this election are too high to hope that Biden can recover from his debate fiasco. He cant, and he wont. And because there is no guarantee that the United States will recover from a Trump restoration, the time to act is now, and every Democrat in the country needs to work together, starting Friday morning, to push Biden aside. Anything else is pure, self-destructive madness.

Slate wants to help.Submit your questions here. Its anonymous! No question is too dumbor too existential.

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Presidential debate on CNN: How Democrats can replace Biden as the nominee. - Slate

L.L. Bean has just added a third shift at its factory in Brunswick, Maine, in an attempt to keep up with demand for its iconic boot.

Orders have quadrupled in the past few years as the boots have become more popular among a younger, more urban crowd.

The company says it saw the trend coming and tried to prepare, but orders outpaced projections. They expect to sell 450,000 pairs of boots in 2014.

People hoping to have the boots in time for Christmas are likely going to be disappointed. The bootsare back ordered through February and even March.

"I've been told it's a good problem to have but I"m disappointed that customers not getting what they want as quickly as they want," said Senior Manufacturing Manager Royce Haines.

Customers like, Mary Clifford, tried to order boots on line, but they were back ordered until January.

"I was very surprised this is what they are known for and at Christmas time you can't get them when you need them," said Clifford.

People who do have boots are trying to capitalize on the shortage and are selling them on Ebay at a much higher cost.

L.L. Bean says it has hired dozens of new boot makers, but it takes up to six months to train someone to make a boot.

The company has also spent a million dollars on new equipment to try and keep pace with demand.

Some customers are having luck at the retail stores. They have a separate inventory, and while sizes are limited, those stores have boots on the shelves.

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When is the DNC in Chicago and why it could be a focal point following Biden-Trump debate - NBC Chicago

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. addressed the possibility of replacing President Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee.

Biden is facing calls from many Democrats to step aside following a poorly received debate performance against former President Donald Trump on Thursday night. Biden's voice sounded hoarse, and he mumbled throughout many of his answers, doing little to dispel concerns about his age among swing voters as Trump was widely perceived as having more energy throughout the night.

Biden's debate performance sent Democrats into a panic as they fear he may not be a strong candidate to go against Trump in the November election. Many Democrats are now saying he should be replaced ahead of the Democratic convention scheduled for August.

Kennedy, who previously challenged Biden in the Democratic primary before changing his party affiliation to independent, was pressed by NewsNation's Chris Cuomo about whether he would be open to replacing Biden as the nominee.

Cuomo said Biden is "in freefall," and that Kennedy being the Democratic nominee could "really solve their problems and yours at the same time."

He asked: "Would you be open to talking to them if they reached out to you?"

"Of course I would talk to them. It would put me on the ballot with nobody trying to get me off," Kennedy responded, adding that he believes the Democratic National Committee would otherwise try to get him removed from the ballot in states across the country.

However, Kennedy would find himself at odds with Democratic voters on key issues, such as the COVID-19 vaccination. He has also given mixed statements about abortion, a key issue for Democrats.

He did not participate in the debate, as CNN said he did not meet their qualifications. Instead, he hosted his own version of the presidential debate.

It remains unclear whether Democrats would consider Kennedy as a potential replacement for Biden, should he decide to step down from the campaign. Pundits have listed several potential replacements, such as Vice President Kamala Harris, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and California Governor Gavin Newsom.

Newsweek reached out to the Biden and Kennedy campaigns for comment via email.

In order for Biden to be replaced at the top of the ticket this late in the campaign, he would likely have to pull out of the race. It is unclear whether he could lose the nomination in a contested convention, and he has won the vast majority of Democratic delegates during the primary season.

Biden is on track to be confirmed as the party's 2024 nominee at the Democratic convention in Chicago in August after winning 3,904 of the available 3,949 delegates. A candidate needs 1,968 delegates to become the nominee.

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

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RFK Jr. Addresses Possibility of Taking Joe Biden's Spot on Democrat Ticket - Newsweek

Republican Will Scharf and Democrat Elad Gross disagreed on almost every issue Monday night during a forum of attorney general candidates in St. Louis.

They arent on the same page on dealing with violent crime or protecting speech on campus. They crossed swords over abortion rights and access to contraception. And they couldnt agree on the integrity of the 2020 presidential election.

But Scharf and Gross were in lock step on one issue: They believe state government is being manipulated by special interests, to the detriment of Missouri taxpayers. And both point the finger directly at the incumbent attorney general, Andrew Bailey.

Elad and I agree that Jefferson City is viciously corrupt, Scharf said, adding: The political class in this state has fundamentally failed the people of Missouri.

Gross quipped during the forum that, I told you were going to agree on a lot of stuff today, going on to declare that the Missouri attorney generals office needs to create a public corruption unit.

The idea drew applause from the audience and from Scharf.

We need to have serious enforcement against corruption in Missouri, Gross said.

The pair are hoping to replace Bailey, a Republican running for a full term in office after being appointed to the job by Gov. Mike Parson in 2022.

Bailey did not attend Mondays forum, citing scheduling conflicts. The event was sponsored by the Federalist Society, a conservative legal advocacy group whose leadership has largely backed Scharf and has been involved in almost every high-profile conservative judicial appointment of recent decades.

Gross is running unopposed in the Aug. 6 Democratic primary, while Scharf and Bailey are engaged in a heated GOP contest, with the massive fundraising hauls translating into a nasty TV ad war across the state.

One of Scharfs main lines of attack has been Bailey taking donations from lobbyists and companies whose interests intersect with the attorney generals office.

For example, last year the attorney general had to recuse his office from litigation filed by companies accused of operating illegal gambling devices, forcing the state to hire private counsel. The recusal came after Bailey received thousands in contributions from PACs connected to the chief lobbyist for the companies suing the state.

Bailey also drew fire over accepting a $50,000 donation from a St. Louis company shortly after filing an amicus brief backing its efforts to move a lead-poisoning lawsuit it was facing out of Missouri.

When you look at Jefferson City today, Scharf said Monday, you see a political culture thats deeply in hock to a very narrow set of special interests and lobbyists and political insiders.

Bailey has denied any wrongdoing, and his campaign has noted that Scharfs bid for attorney general is being bankrolled by out-of-state interests, namely conservative activist Leonard Leo.

On Tuesday, an organization connected with Leo donated $2 million to support Scharfs candidacy. Since joining the race for attorney general, Scharf has benefited from $3.5 million in donations from the organization, making up a majority of the money hes received in the race.

Gross is a former assistant attorney general who currently runs his own law firm in St. Louis.His legal practice focuses on the Sunshine Law. In 2021, he won a landmark ruling from the Missouri Supreme Court that public agencies could not charge for time attorneys spend reviewing public records that are requested under the states Sunshine Law.

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Bailey served a general counsel for Parson before taking over as attorney general when his predecessor, Eric Schmitt, won a seat in the U.S. Senate. He previously worked as an assistant prosecuting attorney in Warren County, an assistant attorney general and general counsel for the Missouri Department of Corrections.

Scharf is a former assistant U.S. attorney who worked as policy director in Gov. Eric Greitens brief administration.He left state government when Greitens was forced to resign in disgrace in 2018. He is currently part of a the team of lawyers representing former President Donald Trump in various legal matters pertaining to his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

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Missouri GOP and Democrat AG rivals agree on one thing: state government is 'viciously corrupt' Missouri Independent - Missouri Independent

Once again, Democrats are panicking over whether President Biden should be their nominee, after his shaky and often faltering debate performance against former president Donald Trump on Thursday.

Biden has given no indication that he is planning to step aside, and few Democrats have been willing to publicly suggest he should. But there are paths by which Democrats can replace him, including whether he voluntarily steps down or not. (Note that the process for replacing Donald Trump on the Republican ticket would follow much the same path, though it seems unlikely either man will be removed at this stage.)

Here is a look at four different scenarios by which Biden could be replaced at the top of the ticket, including both before and after Election Day.

Has a candidate been

nominated yet?

Biden is the presumptive nominee, but he could still be replaced at the convention whether he chooses to step aside or not.

Has a candidate been

nominated yet?

Biden is the presumptive nominee, but he could still be replaced at the convention whether he chooses to step aside or not.

The easiest way for Democrats to replace Biden is to do it at their August convention especially if he agrees to step aside.

Doing so is primarily a question of party rules and party law, said Elaine Kamarck, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. It is not in the Constitution, its not in state law, its not in federal law. It is mostly in party law.

In this scenario, delegates would arrive at the convention uncommitted to Biden and they would then back another nominee in whats known as an open convention where multiple candidates can compete for the nomination on the fly, according to Kamarck, who has also served as a Democratic delegate multiple times.

It has been decades since such a convention has occurred, but its not unprecedented. In the 1960 Democratic National Convention, for instance, multiple candidates jockeyed for delegates before then-Sen. John F. Kennedy secured the nod.

If Biden refuses to step down, its still possible, albeit unlikely, that a challenger emerges who tries to convince delegates to back them instead, per Kamarck.

The party chair can call the national committee into

session to pick a new nominee.

The party chair can call the national committee into session to pick a new nominee.

Once the convention ends, the campaign enters a new phase, where it becomes more challenging to replace Biden, but not impossible. According to Kamarck, the party has rules that empower the party chairman to call the national committee into session to pick a new nominee.

In fact, Democrats actually did this after the 1972 convention when they replaced Sen. Tom Eagleton, George McGoverns running mate, because of concerns about his health.

If this were to happen again in 2024, however, it could face serious logistical and legal hurdles as ballot deadlines may have already passed and early voting begun in some states.

Did the electoral college

vote for a candidate yet?

The party can ask the electors to vote for the vice president-elect or an alternate candidate but they must abide by state rules.

Did the electoral college

vote for a candidate yet?

The party can ask the electors to vote for the vice president-elect or an alternate candidate but they must abide by state rules.

In the event that Biden wins the election, but is then incapacitated before the electoral college votes on Dec. 17, there is still a path for Democrats to replace him, but this is where things get tricky. There is no federal-level process for replacing a president-elect during this time.

Its kind of a murky situation, Kamarck said. My guess is that what both sets of electors would do is theyd probably vote for the vice-presidential candidate, but they are not required to.

State rules on how this would work vary, according to Kamarck, with some states requiring electors to vote for the person who they were voted to elect. If this were to happen, it would likely be chaotic. You could see some strange outcomes, Karmack said.

Has that candidate taken

the oath of office?

The vice president is

first in the line of

succession according

to the U.S. Constitution

and the Presidential

Succession Act of 1947.

According to Section 3 of the 20th Amendment, the vice president-elect

becomes president.

Has that candidate taken

the oath of office?

The vice president is

first in the line of

succession according

to the U.S. Constitution

and the Presidential

Succession Act of 1947.

According to Section 3 of the 20th

Amendment, the vice president-elect

becomes president.

In the event Biden is incapacitated after the electoral college has voted, things are actually more straightforward than in the previous scenario.

In this situation, the Constitution stipulates in Section 3 of the 20th Amendment that the vice president-elect becomes president. Similarly, if Biden were to become incapacitated after the inauguration, the vice president would become president, as stipulated in both the Constitution and Presidential Succession Act of 1947.

Colby Itkowitz and Amy Gardner contributed to this report. Illustration by Ben Kirchner.

Excerpt from:

How Joe Biden could be replaced as the 2024 Democratic nominee - The Washington Post