How is the leader of a party chosen, if they are already President?

[chicken_nugget24]

In the US, I mean sorry. Does Biden automatically win the leader of the party? Or does he have to win them again?

[NamerOfStars]

Political parties aren't officially a part of the US government; in fact, George Washington warned specifically against them and said the country should have nothing to do with them. They showed up almost immediately after his Presidency ended; I like to think that every American, upon entering the afterlife, is greeted by a bitterly smirking Washington who greets them with "I told you so".

Anyway, as it stands, both parties DO technically require a primary election to determine who their candidate will be. I heard talk in 2020 that the Republicans weren't going to bother; I don't know if they actually did or if there was precedent for any party doing that before. Nor can I recall offhand any case of a sitting President being rejected for renomination; usually, if things look THAT bad for them, they'll choose to not run for reelection, to avoid the social disgrace of being rejected (like Lyndon Johnson did). Typically, that would require some truly heinous actions on his part, or an abysmal failure of his or her policies, but as divided as the country is right now, I don't think even THAT would do it; the party has too much invested in "not being the other party".

[slatyb]

There are various roles within a US political party, but usually everyone refers to the President.

[BCA6010]

Both parties are more or less controlled by their donors, which are generally dominated by big industry lobbies and other interest groups like non-profits. For whatever reason, the house majority and minority leaders are generally seen as the figureheads of the party as a whole though, probably because they tend to be people in the public eye for at least as long as the president and are invariably career politicians.

I'm not sure if it's the same with the Democrats in this regard, but the Republican party purse is controlled by a handful of swamp creatures with unanimously low approval ratings (McConnell, Cornyn, Romney) that never seem to get challenged in primaries or by the opposing party in any serious way. Whenever a challenger does go after one of those people or their inner circles in a primary, they suddenly find it impossible to raise money or will even be directly sabotaged. This happened to several candidates in 2022. This is also how you end up with a state like Utah where Romney and Lee are practically polar opposites despite being from the same party and represent the same voting block.

[Cubus]

I would say there is no strict "leader" position in USA political parties. It's mostly about influence. Right now in Republican Party there is a Trumpist/MAGA faction that helped to elect Trump, but there are also more centre-right conservatives, or even liberals like Charlie Baker, Chris Sununu or Phil Scott. Just the Trumpist faction is currently the most powerful in the party. The same in Democrats. You have people on the centre-left like Biden and people that are further to the left like AOC or Elizabeth Warren.

[Anonymous]

It's not law, but generally both parties when running for a second term leave the incumbent to go unopposed. There's nothing legally stopping anyone from running against Biden if they chose to, like they could have ran against Trump 3 years ago. It happens but it's rare.

[chicken_nugget24]

Thanks

[zagor]

He has to go through the process again; anyone else can also petition to be on the ballot in the primaries or the caucuses. Each state selects their delegates by one of those means, and the delegates support whatever candidate won in that state. The vote on which candidate the party will run is determined at the party convention by vote of delegates.

[PurpleiPad]

Back when we had laws, he would have to compete again. But those days are gone, and he will probably just be installed like Putin.

[GoodGuyBreakingBad]

If Iowa and New Hampshire kick off the presidential primaries, Biden might not be on the ballot. See he needs to win votes to be on the ballot.

[Jamie05rhs]

Through manipulation and intimidation. And a lack of imagination (on the part of the voters).

[jonishere]

The leader is usually the party chair and is appointed by delegates of the party

[PeterLegg91]

He has to be voted in again I think

[Anonymous]

Don't advertise your empty mind by asking this type of questions ma'am. 😊

[chicken_nugget24]

What? It's just a question and what's your problem? I don't even think I've interacted with you before

[NamerOfStars]

She's doing nothing of the kind! She genuinely doesn't know, and so is asking. How's she supposed to learn if she doesn't ask?

[chicken_nugget24]

Thanks @NameOfStars

[chicken_nugget24]

@NamerOfStars

[NamerOfStars]

Of course. Some people just don't think things through; missing knowledge not sought out through fear of looking stupid is EXACTLY the kind of thing that always ends up being necessary. It's far better to risk LOOKING stupid than to BE stupid.

[chicken_nugget24]

Agreed lol