Watching the news coverage of President Biden’s resignation from the 2024 campaign, it was fascinating to see just how quickly the entire Democratic Party shifted rather seamlessly from Joe Biden to Kamala Harris as the new presidential candidate.

While the public discourse began with open questions such as “Who will replace Biden?” and “What are the rules for selecting a new candidate?”, party elites used the moment to widely endorse Kamala Harris rapidly – shifting the entire conversation.

Within a couple of hours, the main topic of the discourse had shifted away from “who” the candidate would be, towards “how” and “why” pundits believe that Kamala Harris would win the presidential election over Trump.

Many introduced new sound bites into this campaign, framing the election as “The Prosecutor Versus the Felon,” while universally referring to Joe Biden as “brave,” “selfless” and “a true statesman,” and praising his “highly successful” term as president.   

Other than being a historical moment in U.S. political history, the moment served as a case study for how effectively political messaging from elites can drive public discourse and have ramifications for actions. Writing this only 24 hours after Biden’s announcement, I find it remarkable how virtually all of the most visible Democratic Party leaders have largely silenced any talk of an open convention or abbreviated primary election – and have instead rallied around Kamala Harris to be an unopposed nominee.  

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