If you’ve been paying attention, most of this information should come as no surprise, but I feel like things are moving so rapidly, it makes sense to repost what we know.
It seems hard to believe that less than a week ago, Hillary collapsed on camera into the arms of her handlers. Soon after, Don Fowler, who headed the DNC from 1995 to 1997, urged the party to come up with a process in the event that Hillary could no longer be the candidate. And they did so right away.
Unless otherwise noted, the following information comes from broadcast anchor Davis Shuster and all quotes are from his source.
According to a source in the DNC, almost immediately after Hillary’s fall, the DNC had an emergency meeting discussing what to do in the event Hillary Clinton either (1) drops out or (2) has another incident on TV like the her fall earlier this week and needs to be forced to drop out.
The question of whether she even can be forced to drop out seems to be in debate. The DNC source says: “We can make contingencies, argue, plead with Hillary Clinton, but DNC bylaws are clear. Her nominee status is now totally up to her.”
Fox News reports:
Democratic Party bylaws say the DNC has the power to fill “vacancies in the nominations for the office of the president and vice president” when the national convention is not in session.
Under party rules, the DNC chair – currently Donna Brazile – could call a special meeting, and fill the vacancy by a majority vote of those present.
Analysts still see this scenario as exceedingly unlikely. It appears party leaders have no authority to sideline Clinton, meaning the special meeting would kick in only if she were to step aside voluntarily.
Other’s I’ve heard discuss it say that it is possible to strip her of the nomination through a simple majority vote among the DNC leadership (of approximately 150 people or so) — though this would almost certainly result in a lawsuit. The Democrats would never tolerate this level of distension in their ranks so close to an election. Regardless of the technicalities, if Clinton doesn’t want to step aside, there will be no vote and she will almost certainly continue to be the nominee.
The DNC meeting earlier this week did conclude with a clear “process” if she withdraws, though there are no details on what that process would be. Further there are certainly no details about what will happen if there is another incident.
Shuster’s source notes that if Clinton does drop out, the DNC will ask for the election to be postponed, which has never happened in the history of the United States. The only time something even remotely similar happened was during the Civil War, when several states failed to send its votes for president.
The source also said that the likely replacement would be Vice President Joe Biden, not Tim Kaine. There are also rumors that Sanders’ people are “scrambling” for support, but we all know the DNC is not going to allow Sanders to lead them.
Biden is also likely to want to choose his own VP. If he succeeds in dumping Kaine, Politico reported back in May that Biden wanted Elizabeth Warren to be on the ticket.
