Alternate headline: The Ragin' Cajun Ain't A-Waitin'. 

Even with Joe Biden now trying to position himself to claim a recovery from the debate damage over the next few days, the Democrat donor class does not seem terribly patient. And for good reason: the DNC wants to accelerate the delegate vote to the next couple of weeks rather than the August convention as a a way to secure Joe Biden's place on the ticket. The window on action is closing fast, and the donor class knows it.

So what are they planning? Semafor's Kadia Goba reports on a private conference of consultants and donors overnight, in which James Carville demanded fast action -- and vengeance on those who resist it. Donors need to punish Democrats circling the wagons around Biden after the debate:

“Seventy-two percent of people want something different. Why not give it to them?” asked the former Bill Clinton aide James Carville on a conference call for dozens of donors to the Democratic SuperPAC American Bridge, a major source of opposition research and paid campaigns against Donald Trump. “They’re just asking for a different choice.”

Carville advised donors who want Biden out of the race to cut off money to politicians who won’t take their side.

“What I would say is, if we don’t do something about this, I’m going to put you on call block on my cell phone,” he said on the call, a recording of which was shared with Semafor by a donor.

Only one of the major participants objected to Carville's exhortation, but not even to defend Biden, according to Goba's source. Dmitri Mehlhorn, who represented Democrat super-donor Reid Hoffman (who backed E. Jean Carroll's lawsuit against Donald Trump and who backed Nikki Haley in the GOP primary), warned that apres Biden, le Kamala deluge. A dead or comatose Biden would be easier to elect, Mehlhorn warned:

“Kamala Harris is more threatening to those swing voters than a dead Joe Biden or a comatose Joe Biden,” he said. “So if Joe has to go, it’s gonna be Kamala and if it’s Kamala, it’s gonna be harder.”

That's probably true, as insulting as it may be to Harris. It's also a reflection of just how badly Biden bungled his running-mate choice in 2020 by playing into identity politics rather than look for a reliable and competent Democrat. But in that case, Carville's advice would be equally applicable: donors could cut off any elected Democrat or PAC that supports Harris as the replacement.

However, that will not be easy, for a couple of reasons. If Biden does withdraw, the general-election campaign funds remaining can only be used by Harris. If they both withdraw, that will leave $240 million in cash on hand that the eventual Anointed Replacement may never be able to access. (One can expect a lot of legal fighting to regain access in this scenario, of course.) Donors will have to raise a lot of money to overcome that consequence of forcing both candidates off of the ticket.

Second: Democrats still support Harris, at least those in the establishment, as Reuters reported this morning:

Vice President Kamala Harris is the top alternative to replace U.S. President Joe Biden if he decides not to continue his reelection campaign, according to seven senior sources at the Biden campaign, the White House and the Democratic National Committee with knowledge of current discussions on the topic. ...

But trying to sidestep Harris is wishful thinking and would be nearly impossible, these sources, who did not wish to be named, said.

If named as the party nominee, Harris, 59, would take over money raised by the Biden campaign and inherit campaign infrastructure, the sources said. She also has the highest name recognition among all the alternatives, and the highest polling among Democrats who could seriously be considered a candidate, the sources said.

That doesn't make Mehlhorn incorrect, of course. He probably remembers Harris' disastrous 2019 primary, in which Tulsi Gabbard humiliated her twice in successive debates, and who ended up not even making it to Iowa after being an early favorite for the nomination. Harris has demonstrated zero talent for campaigning or even coherent extemporaneous speech, only without the excuse of encroaching senility. A comatose Biden might be easier to push across a finish line, in that sense.

But as I've often written, the progressive identitarian Left demanded Harris to be the next in line as part of their access to full party control. They will not abide any effort to displace her, especially not for a white man or woman, and even more especially for a moderate. It won't be just the big-ticket donors going to war over Harris, but also the radical Left in a fight that will tear the party apart all the way down to the local level. 

For the moment, it appears that these donors still haven't figured out a way through the conundrums that Comatose Joe created for them, and that the DNC facilitated by closing off primary challenges to a clearly declining Biden. Stay tuned, because in a couple of weeks, the question will likely become moot.