As more and more conveniently timed leaks appeared indicating everyone from Nancy Pelosi to Chuck Schumer to Hakeem Jeffries had urged Biden to drop out, the writing appeared to be on the wall — even if Joe Biden has shown no public sign of reading it.
Some Democrats have fantasized that Biden would announce the decision right before or after Donald Trump’s nomination speech in order to steal the news cycle.
The question is already turning to what comes next. In conversations with Democratic elected officials, staffers, and strategists the early conventional wisdom was that Vice President Kamala Harris would eventually step into his role atop the ticket.
Whether that would be through a direct endorsement by Biden and key party leaders,…
