Washington DC – The political storm unleashed by final week’s presidential debate in the US continues to be raging regardless of assurances from the White Home that President Joe Biden is not going to drop out of the race.
The 81-year-old president’s disastrous efficiency towards his predecessor Donald Trump has fueled questions on his viability as a candidate, if not his suitability for the job. Through the debate, observers famous that Biden often misplaced his practice of thought and appeared exhausted or confused.
That has elevated strain on Biden to step down and make method for a unique candidate to symbolize the Democratic Get together because the November presidential election approaches.
Nevertheless, lots of Biden’s potential replacements have expressed assist for him, however that has achieved little to calm hypothesis concerning the president’s future.
Forward of the controversy, Biden confronted rising discontent amongst massive segments of the Democratic base over his “ironclad” assist for Israel’s struggle in Gaza, which has killed greater than 38,000 Palestinians and sparked accusations of genocide.
So if a brand new Democratic candidate is nominated, mending the fractures the struggle has brought about within the celebration could also be a prime precedence: Key demographic teams, together with younger voters, progressives, Arabs and Muslims, have all expressed discontent over the Gaza struggle.
Right here, Al Jazeera seems to be at what Biden’s potential alternate options must say concerning the battle.
Vice President Kamala Harris
If Biden drops out, Harris can be the favourite to exchange him on the prime of the Democratic ticket.
Harris, a former senator from California, is the daughter of immigrants from India and Jamaica. She ran unsuccessfully for president in 2020.
As vp, Harris represents the Biden administration, which has unwaveringly supported the struggle in Gaza. Nonetheless, she was one of many first senior administration officers to make use of the phrase “ceasefire” when calling for a truce in Gaza.
“Given the immense scale of the struggling in Gaza, there should be a direct ceasefire for not less than the following six weeks,” Harris stated in March.
On the time, NBC Information, citing unnamed officers, reported that Harris would have taken a stronger stance towards the struggle if the White Home had given her the prospect.
“That is Biden’s struggle. That is Biden’s failure,” one supply stated. “I believe she would have referred to as for a ceasefire a very long time in the past.”
Publicly, Harris has emphasised that she is absolutely aligned with Biden.
The vp has been a staunch defender of Israel all through her political profession. In 2017, the primary measure she co-sponsored as a senator was to sentence a United Nations Safety Council decision denouncing Israel’s unlawful settlements within the occupied West Financial institution.
Later that 12 months, he instructed the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) that he has a deep connection to Israel.
“Having grown up within the [San Francisco] “Within the Bay Space, I fondly bear in mind these Jewish Nationwide Fund containers that we used to gather donations to plant bushes for Israel,” Harris stated at an AIPAC convention.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer
Virtually instantly after final week’s debate, commentators started mentioning Whitmer’s title as a doable alternative for Biden.
Whitmer, a preferred politician from a key swing state, rose to nationwide prominence in 2020 when she clashed with then-President Trump over COVID-19 pandemic insurance policies. Two years later, she simply gained reelection.
As governor, Whitmer not often addresses overseas coverage, however she has expressed assist for Israel on a number of events.
“Right here in Michigan we condemn this vile act of terrorism,” he stated throughout a rally at a synagogue days after the Oct. 7 Hamas assault in Israel. “We stand with Israel. And Israel has the proper to defend itself.”
On the rally, Michigan elected officers held fingers whereas singing and dancing in assist of Israel, a gesture that many within the state’s massive Arab neighborhood discovered offensive.
In current months, Whitmer has additionally expressed sympathy for the lack of life in Gaza, however declined to say whether or not the rising dying toll amongst Palestinians would quantity to genocide.
“I’m not going to weigh in on a problem the place I do know quite a lot of these phrases are getting used to inflame and divide us,” he instructed NBC Information earlier this 12 months.
In April, CNN requested Whitmer if she supported a everlasting ceasefire in Gaza; she dodged the query.
“I believe the hostages needs to be launched and the violence ought to cease, and we have to actually speak about rebuilding Gaza and supporting the Palestinians,” he stated.
Throughout her 2018 marketing campaign for governor, Whitmer stated she “strongly” helps a Michigan legislation penalizing companies that boycott Israel.
California Governor Gavin Newsom
Since defeating an try to recall his celebration in 2021, Newsom has been seen as a rising star in Democratic politics.
A vocal advocate of Biden’s agenda, the previous San Francisco mayor has acted as a surrogate for the president’s marketing campaign, making media appearances and finally week’s debate.
Like different US officers, Newsom strongly condemned the Oct. 7 assault and traveled to Israel final 12 months, the place he expressed unwavering assist for the nation.
“Regardless of the horror, what I noticed and heard from the folks of Israel was a deep sense of resilience. A dedication to neighborhood and a typical goal, particularly in these very troublesome occasions,” he stated in an announcement after his journey on Oct. 20. “That’s the Israeli spirit. And it’s the spirit of California, too.”
By then, Israel had killed practically 4,400 Palestinians in Gaza, roughly 4 occasions the variety of Israelis killed by Hamas on October 7.
In March, Newsom referred to as for a ceasefire in Gaza in a letter to California’s Muslim, Arab and Palestinian communities.
“I condemn the continued horrific lack of harmless civilian life in Gaza,” he stated then.
“I assist President Biden’s name for a direct ceasefire as a part of an settlement to safe desperately wanted assist for Gazan civilians and the discharge of hostages. I additionally unequivocally denounce Hamas’s terrorist assault on Israel.”
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro
Whereas he could not have the nationwide recognition loved by fellow governors Newsom and Whitmer, Shapiro is taken into account a number one candidate to probably change Biden.
The governor, who beforehand served as Pennsylvania’s lawyer common, comfortably gained his election in the important thing Mid-Atlantic state in 2022. Since taking workplace, he has loved optimistic approval scores.
Relating to the struggle in Gaza, Shapiro has been a robust supporter of Israel.
“The ‘nothing to say’ narrative that some are utilizing to justify Hamas’ unprovoked actions is ignorant and improper,” he stated final 12 months. “There isn’t any ethical equivalence on this case. Israel has the proper to defend itself.”
Shapiro has additionally been outspoken in his criticism of what he describes as anti-Semitism by protesters against the struggle in Gaza.
In April, he in contrast pro-Palestinian pupil protesters to the Ku Klux Klan. However campus protests have been largely peaceable, and pupil leaders say accusations of anti-Semitism distort their objective: encouraging their universities to divest from Israeli firms linked to human rights abuses within the nation.
“We have now to ask ourselves whether or not or not we might tolerate folks wearing KKK costumes or KKK regalia making feedback about African-American folks in our communities,” Shapiro instructed CNN.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg
Buttigieg mounted an unlikely presidential marketing campaign in 2020 regardless of his scant resume, having solely beforehand served as mayor of a school city in Indiana. Nevertheless, he carried out properly within the early primaries earlier than dropping out of the race and endorsing Biden.
In 2021, he turned the primary overtly homosexual Cupboard secretary after the US Senate confirmed him to steer the Division of Transportation. However he has confronted criticism for his response to a number of crises: there have been large delays in civil aviation, in addition to a practice derailment in 2023 that led to a chemical spill in Ohio.
However liberal commentators describe him as an efficient communicator who can counter Republican arguments.
In a uncommon touch upon the Gaza battle earlier this 12 months, Buttigieg urged he understands why many individuals voted “uncommitted” in Michigan’s Democratic major to protest Biden’s assist for the struggle.
“To start with, I perceive it, and no person can take a look at what’s occurring there and really feel good,” he instructed the Pod Save America podcast in February.
“The opposite factor I’ll say is that negotiations are at present underway to make sure that two issues occur: an finish to the killings and the return of the hostages.”
Throughout his presidential marketing campaign, Buttigieg expressed his assist for Israel.
In 2019, he additionally stated the US mustn’t “foot the invoice” for Israel’s doable annexation of the occupied West Financial institution.
However months later, he appeared to vary his stance. Requested if he would decide to placing situations on assist to Israel to forestall annexation, he stated: “In case you ask me to decide to withdrawing American assist for Israel, the reply isn’t any.”
