ED MORRISSEY: Convention? What Convention? Dems Kill Biden Escape Hatch.

Before this plan, the possibility existed (unlikely as it was) that the DNC could change the rules to release all delegates on the first ballot and have a real open convention for the nomination. This “virtual vote” of delegates necessitated by Ohio’s ballot-access deadline makes the convention entirely irrelevant, even more so than usual. It’s now just a huge anti-climax signifying nothing at all, not even the pro-forma elevation of the nominee. They will have done that in a smoke-filled back room, or maybe more accurately, a vape-filled back Zoom.

They’re stuck with Biden now because they will have no mechanism to replace him once that virtual vote takes place. In fact, it gets worse than that if Biden really does withdraw before and especially after the “virtual vote.” The DNC has no other mechanism than the convention to deal with a vacant ticket, so they lose Ohio access right off the bat. If they’ve already held the virtual vote, it’s not even clear how the convention can undo that, especially in transmitting Biden’s candidacy to the states. It’s not impossible, but replacing Biden becomes much more complicated with the early “virtual vote” process.

The Biden Replacement Theory has moved from Impossible to Highly Unlikely and back to Impossible again.