Feature Photo by Jenene Grover
Story by Noah McLane
As the world stands aghast from President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the 2024 presidential race, Tennessee delegates for the Democratic National Convention are in a frenzy to figure out how to approach a convention now only four weeks out.
One of those delegates is Middle Tennessee State University senior Meredith Dunn, who knew her first DNC would be challenging but nothing like this.
“All of us had a pretty good idea that there was a lot that could happen between [the debate] and the convention…personally, I was hoping that Joe would stay in because it would be such a gamble to try to find a replacement,” said Dunn.
Before today, she had been nervous about security at the DNC, given President Donald Trump’s attempted assassination. However, she was overall excited to meet fellow Democrats and see special guests like Vice President Al Gore.
As one of five alternate delegates, the political science major was prepared to march into the convention and fulfill her democratic duty if called upon: cast her vote for Joseph R. Biden.
The idea of Biden actually dropping out was foreign.
Dunn and her friends would philosophically debate the hypothetical impacts of a Biden-less Democratic ticket, but today’s bombshell truly shocked them.
“I don’t know that any of us were directly hoping for him to drop out, but there was a lot of concern and speculation around if [staying in the race] was sustainable and what we were risking if he did,” said Dunn.
Now, things are different.
Vice President Harris has been crowned the party’s candidate by President Biden, despite the fact that the official vote for the party’s nominee will not happen until the DNC in August.
“The convention will dictate a lot of things. I’m not sure that it’s going to be an obvious choice who the nominee will be,” Dunn said before entering an emergency meeting with the other Tennessee delegates.
“I know not everybody is happy with Kamala being the prospective choice,” said Dunn, but she thinks Harris can do a better job of firing up younger voters than her predecessor.
After the emergency meeting, Dunn told Sidelines that the Tennessee delegation had unanimously voted to support Kamala Harris for President.
While the decision felt rushed to Dunn, she said she would support Harris completely.
“In the end, it was a good choice to show we’re unified behind her,” said Dunn.
Noah McLane is the lead news reporter for MTSU Sidelines.
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