WASHINGTON - eTradeWire -- The Daily Mail reported that there is a Secret Democrat Plot to Replace Biden (https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-134818...) as the party's presidential candidate if he doesn't do well in the forthcoming debate with Donald Trump: "Now DailyMail.com has learned that if Joe stumbles in that first face-off with Trump or if his polling numbers keep falling, it'll take a united front of the liberal grandees to make Joe throw in the towel."

As to who could accomplish this dramatic change, the Daily Mail suggests that "Obama, Clinton, Pelosi, and Schumer might be able to pull off the maneuver if they coordinate Biden's stepping aside with a smooth Democratic National Convention in August and an elevation of an attractive alternative nominee."

The Hill is also hinting that: If Biden Doesn't Ace the First Debate, Will He Be Replaced at the Convention?

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But until now there have been few if any suggestions as to a credible replacement candidate - an "attractive alternative nominee"- who can step in at the last minute and be likely to win, says public interest law professor John Banzhaf.

Banzhaf proposes just such a person - and, perhaps he suggests, the only such person in the Democratic party - who enjoys wide public support, has huge name recognition, doesn't raise any concerns about age and/or mental competency (as both Biden and Trump do), and is far more popular that either of the current front runners who are disliked by a sizeable majority.  He is former two-term president Barack Obama.

While Obama can't run for president again, the Constitution does not bar him from running for vice president, and then taking over as president if a re-elected Biden should ever became unable to discharge his duties, or simply resigns to permit Obama to become president for a third time.

As an added advantage, just such a resignation would virtually nullify any possible political damage to Biden or to the Democratic Party if Hunter Biden was behind bars and his father had to break his earlier promise not to pardon him or even commute his sentence because Hunter was threatened or for any other reason.

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That, at least, is the view of a legal analysis posted on the legal website AboveTheLaw (https://abovethelaw.com/2024/06/what-about-joe-biden-and-barack-obama-for-a-ticket/), notes Banzhaf.

Such an analysis may seem strained, but the drafters obviously chose not to use clear language simply prohibiting someone from serving more than two terms as president.

And it may not be what the drafters could have anticipated, and therefore it may seem strange, but it is a careful literal analysis of the language - employing literalism and/or originalism - argues the law professor.

http://banzhaf.net/  jbanzhaf3ATgmail.com  @profbanzhaf