It had to happen. With top flight Democrats deserting him in droves and advice from a close knit group making his position increasingly untenable, US President Joe Biden took to social media to announce that he was stepping down for the sake of party and country.

This was an announcement that Democrats of various hues were hoping for immediately after June 27, the day of the disastrous first debate with his challenger Donald Trump in Atlanta. But an adamant incumbent who really believed that he had it in him to weather the storm hung on till reality dawned.

Stepping down and endorsing Vice-President Kamala Harris did not come in the same breadth, but in two separate announcements, the latter quick to say that she would earn and win.

In walking back on the race barely three weeks before the Party Convention in Chicago and 106 days to the November 5 showdown, Biden has put the Democrats in a spot. Rallying behind Harris or challenging the Vice President are both difficult propositions, the two scenarios opening up divisions in the Democratic Party besides handing the Grand Old Party unexpected ammunition to fire.

In politics what is not said is more important. Cutting across ideological lines, Democrats have welcomed the decision of Biden, even quietly excusing him for the delay. But the same enthusiasm has not been seen in endorsing Vice-President Harris. Former President Bill Clinton has thrown his weight behind Harris and so has his wife Hillary; but Barack Obama under whom Biden served for eight years as Vice-President has maintained that party leaders will create a process “from which an outstanding nominee emerges”. Obama also warned of “unchartered waters in the days ahead”.

Ominous silence

Only the Governors of California and Pennsylvania have openly endorsed Harris; and the stoic silence from the Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries seem ominous and point in the direction of the Chicago Convention being turned into a noisy “competitive” process with the floor opened up to those who may want to challenge Harris.

There is an opinion within Democrats that the 4,600-odd delegates, including the Super Delegates, should not be automatically handed to Harris and in the process open up charges of elitism and back room deals by a few within the Democratic National Committee, something that the Trump Campaign has already started alluding to. The Democrats have a choice: either they could settle the issue virtually in the first week of August or wait till the Convention begins on August 19.

Amidst all the hoopla, Democrats have two more issues to deal with: the Republican contention that President Biden would have to step down now. “If Joe Biden is not fit to run for President, he is not fit to serve as President. He must resign the office immediately. November 5 cannot arrive soon enough,” Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said. And the rants of former President Trump were along expected lines including the one that Biden was “never fit” to be President.

VP candidate

The other political decision Democrats will have to make is on the make up of the complete ticket, assuming for now that Harris will be leading it. The choice of a Vice Presidential candidate has to factor in many things including race and gender and in the context of the search for a white male, if Democrats will be fine with fielding openly gay persons like Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

In running the clock out, Biden has disadvantaged Democrats by giving the party barely three and a half months to an election where the White House and Capitol Hill are at stake. Also between now and through the elections Biden will continue to be in the limelight for his fitness to continue in office and if the 25th Amendment should be invoked.

The writer is a senior journalist who has reported from Washington DC on North America and UN