The American President Joe Biden has decided not to stand in the autumn's presidential election.
USA expert Frida Stranne assesses that the pressure on Biden finally became too great.
It will be a major apparatus to change the campaign, she says to TT.
The news that the 81-year-old president will not stand for re-election came on Sunday afternoon Swedish time. Frida Stanne, associate professor at the University of Halmstad, sees it as problematic for the Democrats that Biden chooses to jump off just months before the election.
I can't think of anything other than that it's because the pressure has increased so enormously in the last week, and that several heavy names within the party have now begun to signal that they no longer support him, she says.
The party is now in a very problematic situation. It would have been problematic with him as a candidate and it will now be problematic without him because it's so short a time left until the election.
Kamala Harris' chances
Vice President Kamala Harris is now one of the favorites to become the new presidential candidate for the Democrats, and is supported by Joe Biden. Frida Stranne, however, does not see it as entirely self-evident that she will ultimately be appointed as the party's candidate.
It could become a struggle about the whole thing. Kamala Harris is not entirely uncontroversial and she has had a fairly weak support. The question is now whether one will rally behind her or have a more open fight at the convention, she says.
Dag Blanck, professor of North American Studies at Uppsala University, says in turn that it will now be important to unite the party behind Harris as the presidential candidate.
The decision will be made in August when the Democratic Party's convention meets with the delegates who were elected in the spring during the primaries. It is unlikely that counter-candidates will register, he says.
Can point to the Democrats' chaos
That the withdrawal occurs so late sees Blanck as exceptional.
It is also clear that the Democrats have been damaged by the turmoil before the decision, according to Blanck. The Republicans will also get the chance to point to the chaos on the Democratic side.
What is an uncertainty factor for the Republicans is who will become the Democrats' new candidate. They have planned their entire campaign based on Biden being the opponent. Now they have to re-lay their strategy.
According to Blanck, Biden will be remembered for defeating Donald Trump, for his long career as a senator for Delaware and as a successful vice president for Barack Obama.
The legacy will also be marked by the decision to not stand after all and do it for the party's best. That he made that decision will be perceived as positive.
