A former Democratic National Committee chairman is calling on the party to draft a contingency plan immediately to prepare for the possibility a health-related emergency forces Hillary Clinton out of the race.
Don Fowler, who chaired the DNC for two years in the mid-1990s, suggested the Democratic Party come up with a list of replacement candidates following an incident this weekend in which Hillary Clinton was seen collapsing outside of an event in New York City.
“Now is the time for all good political leaders to come to the aid of their party. I think the plan should be developed by 6 o’clock this afternoon,” Folwer said Monday in an interview with Politico.
Clinton appeared to faint this weekend after she left a 9/11 memorial service in New York City. The Democratic nominee was recorded Sunday afternoon collapsing, knees buckling, as her aides helped her get into a van.
Clinton’s campaign said after the incident that she was diagnosed last week with pneumonia. However, her team has caught flack for admitting to the pneumonia diagnosis only after the fainting incident was caught on tape. The Clinton campaign said at first that the candidate left the memorial service simple because she had “overheated.”
Immediately following what appeared to be a fainting spell, Clinton disappeared in New York City for 90 minutes Sunday, leaving the press totally in the dark as to her whereabouts.
Though Fowler said he expects Clinton to make a full recovery, he added Sunday’s incident should act as a warning for the party to prepare for a possible replacement.
“It’s something you would be a fool not to prepare for,” he said
He added, “She better get well before she gets back out there because if she gets back out there too soon, it might happen again.”
It is the DNC’s responsibility to choose a replacement nominee, according to the DNC’s own bylaws.
“The rules do not require that any kind of special consideration be given to Tim Kaine or Bernie Sanders. However, if someone besides Kaine were picked to replace Clinton, Kaine would remain in the VP spot,” Heavy reported.
The report added, “The possibilities of who would replace Clinton would likely be either Tim Kaine, Joe Biden, or Bernie Sanders, although with how crazy this election cycle has been, someone else could certainly be considered.”
Fowler added the party needs to get on come up with a contingency plan immediately, as a sudden health-related vacancy would likely lead to chaos and fierce intraparty fighting.
“I’m sure some of the Sanders people would want to get into play and some of the Biden people. I think you’re likely to have at least discussions and perhaps controversy,” Fowler said.
Former DNC Chair and Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell agreed the Democratic Party needs to update its policy for looking for possible nominee replacements, but he told Politico Clinton is going nowhere.
“There is absolutely no chance Hillary Clinton will withdraw from running for the presidency,” Rendell, who is a Clinton surrogate, said Monday.
“When Hillary Clinton participates in three debates, stands on her feet for 90 minutes in all of those debates … it will dispel any remaining doubts that any Americans have about her physical fitness to serve,” he said.
