After weeks of pressure from Democratic party insiders, Joe Biden has finally said he won’t seek re-election. ‘I have decided not to accept the nomination and to focus all my energies on my duties as President for the remainder of my term,’ he said in a one-page letter, offering his ‘full support and endorsement for Kamala [Harris] to be the nominee of our party this year’. So Biden and the Democratic establishment want quick coronation of the Vice President, not any serious contest at the Democrat convention in Chicago. ‘Democrats – it’s time to come together and beat Trump,’ Biden wrote at the end of his letter. ‘Let’s do this.’
Bill Clinton has endorsed Harris. Barack Obama has called for ‘an outstanding nominee to emerge’ and it’s said that Nancy Pelosi wants a mini-primary – but they’re also both understood to back Harris. Any contest, therefore, would likely be a tame one, designed to strengthen her position.
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