The coronavirus pandemic has created an interesting political phenomenon. Recently, a growing number of Democrats have begun pushing for New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to replace Joe Biden as their presidential nominee. Biden is considered the presumptive nominee at this point, with a large delegate lead over Bernie Sanders. But Biden's continued gaffes and awkward appearances while Trump and Cuomo are in the daily spotlight in leadership roles has some Democrats wishing for a last-minute switcheroo.
The desire to find a replacement for Biden is understandable to political observers from across the spectrum. "There is major buyer's remorse with Joe Biden," says Matt Langston, political analyst with Big Dog Strategies. "The shine has really come off of him, he was supposed to be this great unifier, this great communicator for them...and he can barely put a sentence together."
"Nobody is tuning in to see (Biden) leading on any issue," continues Langston. "They're looking to see how many gaffes did he make? I mean, how awkward was it watching him try to talk into his phone and into the camera at the same time?"
Biden's stumbles and Cuomo's rise aside, most political analysts agree that it is highly unlikely and improbable that Cuomo could successfully replace Biden at this point. Since about half of the contests are already done and Cuomo isn't on the ballot for any remaining contests, the only way it could happen is with a brokered convention---and because of Covid-19 the Democratic National Convention may not even be a live event this summer (it's currently scheduled for mid-July.)
"I don't see a chance of it happening," says Langston. "But it would be a great day for Texas Republicans to have a liberal New York Democrat on the ticket against Donald Trump."