Joe Biden's age has fueled concerns about a second term. Here are seven key Democrats who could step in if Biden exits the 2024 presidential race.
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00:00President Biden has been dogged by low approval ratings in recent years and
00:04also with some concerns with voters regarding his age. Some Democrats are
00:08saying well hey could we possibly run someone else who may have a better shot
00:12at defeating former President Donald Trump. So who could potentially step up
00:17to be a alternative should Biden leave the race? Business Insider identified
00:21seven potential alternatives. My name is John Dorman and I am a senior politics
00:25reporter at Business Insider. A potential alternative to Biden could be
00:30New Jersey Senator Cory Booker. Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey is really one
00:35of the more interesting figures in the Democratic Party. He really rose to fame
00:38when he ran for mayor of Newark. I was a young lawyer but thinking I was gonna
00:43you know just continue to represent people who couldn't afford lawyers in a
00:47tough neighborhood in the inner city. But the community there, community leaders
00:51really pushed me to get into politics. He was running against an entrenched
00:55Democratic machine and he won. He had an interesting profile. He grew up in
00:59suburban New Jersey outside of Newark. He went to Stanford University. He went to
01:03Yale Law School. He was really seen as the future of the party really early on
01:08about a lot of figures. He was New Jersey's first black senator and he
01:11served there since then. The power of connection is always what sort of fires
01:16me up. Cory Booker ran for president in 2020.
01:19When he jumped in he was a top-tier candidate. I'm uniquely qualified to get
01:23rid of Donald Trump. Are we gonna allow somebody to divide us, to degrade us, to
01:26demean us? Or are we gonna come together as a country to a sense of common
01:30purpose and common cause again? But he also kind of struggled in many ways in a
01:35crowded field similar to Kamala Harris and a lot of other candidates. So he
01:39ended his campaign and so far he's been a really strong supporter of the Biden
01:42administration. If he were to potentially step in for Biden there are several
01:46things that would go well for him. He has really high name recognition throughout
01:50the country. He really went viral for his questioning of Ketanji Brown-Jackson.
01:55I'm sorry, you're a person that is so much more than your race and
02:00gender. You're a Christian. You're a mom. You're an intellect. You love books.
02:05But for me, I'm sorry. It's hard for me not to look at you and not see my mom.
02:09Some things that probably would be detrimental to him is that even with
02:14that sort of recognition you would have to run a campaign in just a few months.
02:18It takes a lot to run a national race and stepping in as the presidential
02:21candidate is a big leap. A potential alternative from a key Midwestern state
02:26is Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. Governor Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan is
02:30a really unique candidate. She was someone who was a former state lawmaker.
02:34When Gretchen Whitmer won the state in 2018 after eight years of Republican
02:39control, it was a big deal. Since then her profile has exploded.
02:43We, together, are going to fight for our reproductive rights, not give them away.
02:49One of the things for Gretchen Whitmer that attracted a lot of national
02:52attention was a kidnapping plot. A group of militiamen conspired to kidnap her
02:57in 2020. They were upset about coronavirus restrictions in the state.
03:01The FBI announced the plot and the men were subsequently arrested.
03:05Attorney General Dana Nessel was joined by officials from the Department of
03:09Justice and the FBI to announce state and federal charges against 13 members
03:15of two militia groups who were preparing to kidnap and possibly kill me.
03:20One thing that really benefits Gretchen Whitmer is the fact that Michigan is a
03:23key to Democratic chances this year. It's a must-win state for Biden.
03:27Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota is another really interesting figure in the
03:31party. She ran for the Senate in 2006 and she won in a landslide and pretty much
03:37since then she's won her elections pretty easily. She ran for president in
03:412020 and she famously had a speech that she was giving during the snow. A lot of
03:46people may remember that.
03:47We don't let a little snow stop us. We don't let a little cold stop us.
03:53Like, are you guys even cold?
03:57She's someone who really overperformed expectations in the
04:00New Hampshire primary and that really kind of kept her campaign going.
04:04We are so close. I woke up this morning and found out that in one of the
04:08national polling, Emerson polls here in New Hampshire, we'd gone up to number
04:13three since the debate.
04:16But when she faltered in South Carolina, shortly afterwards she ended her
04:19campaign. Since then she's been a really big supporter of the administration.
04:24Today, I am ending my campaign and endorsing Joe Biden.
04:31If she were somehow the nominee to replace Biden, there's lots of things
04:35that would be going well for her. She has a moderate profile. She's not someone
04:39that really throws lobs or is incendiary. She has a really great relationship with
04:42Republicans.
04:43I have brought people with me who are moderate Republicans and
04:47independents in every single election. I have won in the reddest of red
04:51congressional districts and with some ease.
04:55She's a proven vote getter in her state, especially with independents. She's
04:59popular with Democrats there. She's a very broad based appeal. Some things
05:03that would be going against her is mostly just recognition. She doesn't have
05:07the name I.D. as, you know, a Kamala Harris. A high profile Democratic figure
05:12who could be an option is California Governor Gavin Newsom. Gavin Newsom is
05:17one of the highest profile Democrats in the country. He represents California,
05:21of course.
05:21In almost every single category of goal setting, California has exceeded the
05:29goals.
05:30Gavin Newsom has been one of the biggest advocates of tackling climate change.
05:35I'm a little bit exhausted that we have to continue to bait this issue. This is a
05:42climate damn emergency. This is real.
05:45He's someone who has debated Ron DeSantis, former Republican presidential
05:49candidate. He's willing to really go into the ring with a lot of conservatives. He
05:54knows how to go against Republicans. He's not somebody that's willing to back down.
05:58He also can do it in a way that isn't off-putting to swing voters. He's someone
06:02who can speak about reproductive rights, who can speak about climate change, who
06:06can speak about education, who can speak about health care in a way that people
06:10can connect to it.
06:11Some of the things that may hurt Gavin Newsom on a national level is also the
06:15things that some people say are beneficial for him. Some people may not
06:18think that him being as combative with Republicans is a good thing. Some people
06:22may think that that turns off swing voters. There's some voters who may not
06:25want to vote for a candidate from California. There were some Democrats who
06:29were pushing him, saying, hey, you should run. He came out and refuted it and said,
06:32hey, I'm just here promoting democratic values. Joe Biden is very well-suited and
06:37is a strong person who can do that.
06:40I know Joe Biden. I know what he's accomplished in the last three and a half years.
06:43I know what he's capable of.
06:45One alternative could be Governor Roy Cooper of North Carolina. Governor Roy
06:49Cooper is one of the most successful Democrats probably in modern North
06:54Carolina history. He started as a state lawmaker. He became attorney general,
06:58where he served for 16 years. And then he ran for governor and he won.
07:02Medicaid expansion in North Carolina has been a long and winding road.
07:08And it goes back to President Obama, who called to congratulate us, by the way.
07:13He's from that moderate cloth, the Democratic Party. But he's able to
07:16communicate very well with rural Democrats, with Democrats in suburban
07:19areas, independents, and Democrats in urban areas as well.
07:23I hear from people in our state who say, I'm tired of being on the late
07:27night comedy shows. I want our state to head in the right direction.
07:35I want my state back. Do you? I know you do.
07:39The pros of him potentially being a Democratic presidential candidate in
07:432028 would be the fact that he's able to really win over a lot of the swing
07:48and independent voters that Democrats need to win in swing states.
07:52The last thing we need is a reckless president of the United States.
07:57If he were to somehow step in for Biden, something that would hurt him would
08:01just be the lack of name identification.
08:04Governor Westmore of Maryland is another really compelling figure.
08:08He is an Army veteran. He was elected in 2022.
08:12He's someone who was a first-time candidate, and he ran for office
08:16basically running on a lot of really core Democratic issues.
08:19One of the things that he's really tried to instill with a lot of
08:22Democratic voters is that patriotism isn't just for one particular party,
08:26one particular group. It's something that's a shared value among Americans.
08:30We do not have to choose between being a safe state and a just one.
08:37Maryland can and we will be both.
08:41Since he took office in 2023, Governor Westmore has been really focused
08:46on housing affordability in Maryland.
08:48He's also been focused on eliminating the child poverty in the state.
08:52Governor Westmore's national profile really heightened during the tragic
08:56bridge collapse on the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore.
08:59He was on the news giving press conferences daily.
09:03It's imperative that we get the Port of Baltimore back up and going.
09:06And it's not just about how are we supporting Maryland.
09:08This is about how we support the American economy.
09:10For a lot of people, that was their first view of Westmore and a lot of issues
09:15that were going on in Maryland because of that bridge collapse.
09:18Governor Westmore is a very strong ally of President Biden and Vice President Harris.
09:23And by the way, our vice president is lights out.
09:26The work that she is doing around gun violence right now is spectacular.
09:29It is first in the country kind of work.
09:31When some people suggested that he could be a potential candidate,
09:34he said, no, I'm supporting the administration.
09:36Perhaps the most recognizable potential alternative is Vice President Kamala Harris.
09:41Kamala Harris would be a natural successor.
09:44Kamala Harris is the first Indian-American vice president.
09:47She's the first Black American vice president.
09:49And she's also, of course, the first female vice president.
09:52She was a former district attorney of San Francisco.
09:54She was a former state attorney general of California.
09:57Justice should not depend on how you look, on the color of your skin,
10:03on how much money you make.
10:05It shouldn't depend on where you were born or the language your grandmother speaks
10:11or what political party you belong to.
10:14She was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2016.
10:18She ran for president in 2020.
10:20We need a new commander in chief.
10:25And she was, in many ways, a top-tier candidate.
10:27Kamala Harris's 2020 campaign started off with really lofty expectations.
10:32She had a lot of support from female voters.
10:34She was getting some steam from Black voters.
10:36And a lot of people were really excited about her candidacy,
10:38thinking that she could be the first female president.
10:41A lot of people thought she could have a broad-based campaign
10:43that could really rival Joe Biden.
10:45That now-viral moment when Kamala Harris confronted Joe Biden
10:49about desegregation efforts in the 1970s,
10:51that was also something that really got her higher up in the polls.
10:55It was hurtful to hear you talk about the reputations
11:00of two United States senators who built their reputations
11:05and career on the segregation of race in this country.
11:09But it was just really hard for her to break out,
11:12being that there were other center-left candidates who were running.
11:14She left the race, and then she was tapped by Joe Biden
11:18to be his vice-presidential running mate.
11:20And when they won, she made history in that respect.
11:22She's also a candidate who has a lot of connections
11:25with Black voters, with female voters.
11:27She's currently really the face of the administration's
11:30push for reproductive rights.
11:32She's gone all across the country campaigning against
11:34not only Republican policies on that issue,
11:36but against the Supreme Court decision which overturned Roe v. Wade.
11:40Donald Trump's friends in the United States Congress
11:44are trying to pass a national ban.
11:47If she were to somehow take over for Biden,
11:49everybody knows who she is,
11:51so she wouldn't need a natural introduction.
11:53But there are some things that are going against her.
11:55She also would still be tied to the administration.
11:58A lot of people are going to want a fresh face.
12:02President Joe Biden is committed to running for a second term.
12:05It's something that he's always wanted.
12:06It's very unlikely that he would drop out at this particular point,
12:10but it's not unprecedented for a president not to run for re-election.
12:15In 1952, Harry Truman decided not to run for re-election.
12:19I have served my country long and I think efficiently and honestly.
12:24I shall not accept a re-nomination.
12:27I do not feel that it is my duty
12:30to spend another four years in the White House.
12:33In 1968, President Lyndon Johnson declined to run for re-election.
12:37He was really weighed down by the Vietnam War
12:40and his polling ratings had declined.
12:42I shall not speak.
12:45And I will not accept
12:48the nomination of my party for another term as your president.
12:52In the unlikely situation that President Biden left the race
12:57before the Democratic National Convention,
12:58a new nominee would have to be selected
13:01at the convention in August in Chicago.
13:03It would be a very, very chaotic process.