Subject: Re: Politico on the Biden coup + NYT
Now contrast that with what the democrats have done. Joe Biden ran in an open primary system and won, too. But the party told every one of its voters that their choice was IRRELEVANT.

That's not actually true.

Because Biden had won (nearly) all of the delegates, the party had no mechanism to deny him the nomination over his objection. The choice of the voters was extremely relevant. As long as Biden remained in the race, he would be the nominee - no matter what anyone else wanted or said.

However, winning the nomination isn't the end of the campaign. Just because you're the nominee doesn't mean you're entitled to anyone donating you money, supporting you on the campaign trail, or even endorsing you. And obviously it doesn't mean you're going to win. So while party leaders could not - and did not - take away any of Biden's delegates, they could make it clear to Biden that he had damaged himself beyond repair with his debate performance, that his campaign was a lost cause, and that they wouldn't be contributing much to him going forward. So the choice was his - he always had the ability to remain in the race, but he wasn't going to win.

So he withdrew. The primary voters get to choose a nominee, but they can't force him to run if he doesn't want to. The will of the voters can't force the person they choose to accept the nomination. Their choice mattered, but Biden always had the ability to walk away.