President Barack Obama has slightly more than 22 days to drop Vice Presidential Joe Biden from the 2012 Democratic presidential ticket, according to lawyers familiar with the party nominating process. That is, Democrats have until September 6 to formally nominate Democratic party members to be on the presidential ticket.
And it is still possible for that ticket not to include the current vice president, Joe Biden.
"As a sitting president and vice president, Obama and Biden are both considered the Democrats' presumptive nominees and will not be the official nominees until after Charlotte," a lawyer familiar with the party nominating process tells me in an email. "Each party has to file paperwork with each state once the candidates become official nominees. So it's still quite possible for Obama to drop Biden and replace him with someone else and pay no consequences with listing on ballots."
The nominating process will take place at the Democratic party convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, which is being held September 3-6.
The speculation that Biden could be dropped from the ticket comes on the heels of yet another gaffe by the vice president. "They gonna put y'all back in chains," Biden said of the Republican candidates for president and vice president yesterday at a campaign stop. CNN reported that a senior adviser called Biden's comments "not helpful," and that "they believe the vice president has knocked them off track."
On Monday, Vice President Biden also came under fire after questioning the values of Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan by invoking the Wisconsin congressman's deceased father.
Biden took the week off last week, and spent most of that week at the beach, avoiding mishaps by staying away from the press and the campaign trail.
"It's easy before the convention, but difficult after the convention," a lawyer familiar with nominating process tells me. "They cannot change the ticket after the convention," at least not without great difficulty. "They have to be nominated by the party at the convention."
The earliest Democrats could officially nominate a replacement for Biden is September 3. But, if it were to happen, it'd likely officially come September 6, the day Biden and Obama are now tentatively scheduled to speak.
Here's a countdown clock until that moment:
Speculation that Biden could be dropped has been rampant, despite denials from top Democrats. And the move would break with precedent. "The thing is, no elected VP has been dropped from the ticket since 1944, when Henry Wallace was removed at the national convention that year in favor of Sen. Harry Truman (D-Mo.). And that turned out to be extremely significant, as President Franklin Roosevelt was dead less than three months after he was inaugurated for a fourth term," NPR reported.
Nevertheless, with every glaring Biden misstep and gaffe, one might expect the calls for Obama to drop Biden to grow louder.