BROOKINGS, S.D. (KELO) — Two monumental moments in American political history happened within one week of each other.
For South Dakota State political science professor David Wiltse, the assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump was yet another unfortunate example of political violence in America.
“At first, I was in kind of a state of disbelief that we’d have an assassination attempt in this day and age, especially with the technology we have in terms of law enforcement and protection. Then, it kind of dawned on me that we are prone to all different kinds of violence here. Political violence is kind of a persistent reality across our history, and this is just the latest manifestation of it,” Wiltse said.
Then, a week later, President Biden decided to end his presidential campaign with just months until the election.
“Now, we’re really in just kind of a I say a no man’s land. We don’t know what’s going to happen. There’s only a few people who are intimately familiar with the rules who can tell you X, Y and Z will happen in terms of procedure,” Wiltse said.
Wiltse said that Biden dropping out this late in the race is unprecedented, and it might leave the Democratic Party scrambling.
“With the Democratic nomination, this is a really important test for the Democratic Party. How well will they be able to adapt to Biden’s exit after every primary contest is done? How quickly can they coalesce around an individual candidate? And does that really smooth out some of the differences within the party right now?” Wiltse said.
And while many in the Democratic Party appear to have selected a presidential candidate.
“All the signs point to a pretty quick coalescence around Kamala Harris,” Wiltse said.
No one knows when a vice presidential candidate will be named.
Wiltse says that Biden is the first incumbent to drop out of a presidential race since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968.
