Georgia may be legal battleground state if Biden exits race

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - A memo from the conservative Heritage Foundation from before last week’s internationally watched presidential debate highlights Georgia as one of the states in which a battle could erupt should President Joe Biden cancel his reelection campaign.

Biden’s mental acuity and awareness have been front and center of the nation’s political headlines since last week’s Atlanta debate with Donald Trump, the man who Biden ousted from the Oval Office in 2020 and now wants it back. Georgia played a huge role in Biden’s election four years ago, becoming the first deep Southern state since 1992 to vote Democratic in a presidential election.

In a June 21 memo from the Oversight Project, a group sponsored by The Heritage Foundation, titled “50 State Review of Withdrawal and Substitution,” the memo references Special Counsel Robert Hur’s February 2024 report in which he recommended no criminal charges be filed against the president for his handling of classified documents after he left the vice presidency. In his report, Hur called Biden an “elderly man with poor memory.”

The memo also referenced a June 4, 2024, Wall Street Journal article titled, “Behind Closed Doors, Biden Shows Signs of Slipping.”

“Several recent patterns of behavior have given rise on social media and elsewhere to significant concerns,” the memo said. “These include frequent bouts of “freezing” at events; perceptions of incontinence issues; verbal gaffes and long pauses; and appearing lost and disoriented.”

The memo then highlights the problems Democrats would face in “three of the expected six most contested states” that have “some potential for pre-election litigation aimed at exasperating, with legitimate concerns for election integrity, the withdrawal process for a presidential candidate,” the memo said. “[Georgia,] [Nevada] and [Wisconsin] have specific procedures for withdrawal of a presidential nominee with differing degrees of applicability and timelines.

“[Wisconsin] does not allow withdrawal for any reason besides death,” it said.

Biden’s uneven performance, particularly early in the debate, crystallized the concerns of many Americans that, at 81, he is too old to serve as president. It sparked a fresh round of calls for the Democrat to consider stepping aside as the party’s nominee as of his party fear a return of Trump to the White House.

If Biden were to abruptly leave the race, conservative groups have suggested they will file lawsuits around the country, potentially questioning the legality of the Democratic candidate’s name on the ballot.

There is no evidence Biden is willing to end his campaign; indeed, on Wednesday, he held a private staff meeting, a conference call with donors and met with several Democratic governors. Despite earlier media reports that Biden had privately told an ally he was evaluating his reelection chances, he later vowed to keep running.

“Let me say this as clearly as I possibly can as simply and straightforward as I can: I am running … no one’s pushing me out,” Biden said on a call with reelection staffers, as reported by the Associated Press. “I’m not leaving. I’m in this race to the end and we’re going to win.”.

The conventions and their rules are controlled by the political parties. The Democratic National Committee could convene before the convention opens on Aug. 19 and change how things will work, but that isn’t likely as long as Biden wants to continue seeking reelection.

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