Is Biden preparing to drop out of the 2024 presidential race?

Recent reports suggest that President Joe Biden's re-election campaign may be facing significant challenges. Rumors from within the campaign indicate that the president is grappling with diminishing support from both major donors and his political base. [1]

According to sources briefed on a recent conversation, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi privately communicated to President Biden that polling data indicates he may not be able to defeat Donald Trump in the upcoming election. Moreover, Pelosi reportedly warned that Biden's pursuit of a second term could jeopardize Democrats' chances of winning the House in November. [2]

The conversation allegedly took a tense turn when Biden pushed back against Pelosi's assertions. Sources claim that the president cited polls suggesting he could still secure a victory. At one point during the exchange, Pelosi requested that Mike Donilon, a longtime adviser to Biden, join the call to discuss the data further.

Adding fuel to the speculation, at least one right-leaning (and biased) media outlet has reported that a speech may already be in preparation, possibly for release as early as this weekend.

We're operating at the level of rumor here, and I don't personally trust Newsmax as a source on anything political.

But let's run with this for a moment. This speech, if true, would announce Biden's decision not to seek re-election, and that Biden would not endorse any candidate, including his own Vice President, Kamala Harris.

Such a move would almost certainly lead to a brokered convention for the Democratic Party. A brokered convention occurs when no single candidate secures a majority of delegates during the primary process. In this scenario, delegates engage in multiple rounds of voting at the party convention until a nominee is chosen. This process often involves intense negotiations and deal-making among party leaders and candidates.

The prospect of a brokered convention is particularly significant for the Democratic Party, as it hasn't occurred since 1952. In modern politics, parties typically avoid brokered conventions due to the potential for internal division and negative public perception.

As these developments unfold, political observers and party members alike will be closely watching for any official announcements from the Biden campaign or the Democratic National Committee. The coming days and weeks could prove crucial in shaping the landscape of the 2024 presidential election.

Before we look into the astrology of the Democratic ticket, let's start with the recent news from Republicans.

Recent assassination attempt

Nearly a week ago, former president Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt in Butler, PA.

The shots went off at 6:10pm EDT. The Moon, at that moment, formed a hard square to the Sun. This aspect always comes with some risk of the common folk and leaders coming into conflict. The Moon ruled the 8th house, and while many themes in this chart alone might indicate death, the way this moment interacts with Trump's chart shows why luck was with him.

Mars and Uranus aligned at 25° Taurus on the fixed star Algol, which frequently indicates injuries to the head or neck. Many astrologers noted this conjunction and how it aligned with Trump's natal midheaven of 22° Taurus and squared his natal Mars at 26° Leo, warning this relatively slow transit would indicate a dangerous period for Trump.

But something else was going on that might have saved Donald Trump's life.

The former president was born on a full Moon at 21° Sagittarius with the Sun at 22° Gemini. The Moon of the assassination attempt, at 21° Libra, formed a sextile and trine to Trump's natal luminaries – an aspect that tends to preserve life, even in hard circumstances. The Moon also happened to be transiting over Trump's natal Jupiter, still within a few degrees of arc.

Republican VP nominee: JD Vance

At the recent Republican National Convention, Trump's pick for VP was made public – JD Vance, R-OH. Only a few years ago, Vance hounded Trump as "cultural heroin," only to now pick up the mantle as the face of MAGA's future. [3]

Astrologically, this is a compelling team. Their angles are the same – late Leo rising, late Taurus upon the midheaven. Their Mars are in close square with one another, Trump's at 26° Leo and Vance's at 22° Scorpio. Vance's Venus falls near Trump's natal Mars/ascendant conjunction, which smooths the operations between these two, as does the fact that Vance's Moon is aligned with Trump's natal Jupiter.

The 2024 Aries ingress features 25° Leo upon the midheaven. In 2016, a similar signature brought Trump to power (although this was seeded in the Saturn/Jupiter conjunction in late Taurus, May 2000, rather than the election year's Aries ingress). On election day, Jupiter will be at 20° Gemini (albeit retrograde) – right on Trump's natal Sun and in good aspect to Vance's natal Moon and Venus.

A brokered convention

The Democratic National Convention is still ahead of us, due to commence August 19 in Chicago. I am eagerly anticipating this convention, because it follows hot-off-the-heels of the astrological event of the summer: the Mars/Jupiter conjunction at 17° Gemini, which squares Saturn at 17° Pisces (Rx), with Venus coming to transit by square and opposition from mid-Virgo.

But this convention has another thing going for it: the preceding lunation carries the same angles as the lunation preceding the general election later this year, even though the two Moons are in different parts of the country and at different seasons.

It is precisely this recurrence of angles that leads me to suspect that the Democrats could yet have a chance to sweep this election with an action taken at this very convention – if they can get past the legal and political hurdles of getting a new name on ballots before early voting ballots are mailed out (no small feat, perhaps impossible if the brokered convention is belabored).

Let's say the action is related to Biden dropping out, and the rumor published by Newsmax is true: Biden will leave the race, endorse no one, and the convention will be an open one. The next question becomes one of candidate.

Vice President Kamala Harris is an option for presidential candidate. Without a direct endorsement from Biden before the convention, I suspect that she will be passed up in an open convention.

Even with an endorsement from Biden, there are some astrological indicators of obstacles in the path. Kamala Harris was born with Saturn at 28° Aquarius, retrograde. Mars was within a degree of her natal Saturn at the Aries ingress. The DNC's Moon at 27° Aquarius being conjunct the Aries ingress Mars at 27° Aquarius does indicate that this convention will be highly contentious, and no doubt Kamala Harris will be in the thick of it.

Still, this connection falls back on a malefic planet in her nativity, and stirs up themes of disappointment and obstacles rather than open doors and release. Further, transiting Saturn is moving retrograde through Kamala's Harris' natal midheaven right through the election. Her favorables aren't great, [4] and she doesn't seem to have the astrological signatures active to turn that around over a few weeks.

A rising star

The person who has captured my attention is California's governor, Gavin Newsom. He has not so much as put a toe out of line since the Democratic Party started questioning Biden's capacity to lead another 4 years. He has vocalized his support, but has significantly increased his national ad spend in a way that wasn't happening a few months ago.

Newsom has a confirmed birth time. His Mars is in the right place to challenge Trump (i.e., it plugs right into Trump's natal Sun/Moon opposition), and the right person to challenge Vance (Newsom's Saturn overpowers Vance's Jupiter by square, and his Sun outshines Vance's Moon in similar degrees of Libra).

I personally believe, looking at the astrology, that Newsom is the best astrological fit for the Democratic Party, particularly if he chooses to keep Kamala Harris on as VP. The astrological signatures suit Newsom and Harris in a way that rivals the Republican ticket's synastry with the Aries ingress and election-day astrology.

The Aries ingress midheaven is at 25° Leo. Presently, the Republican candidates more or less command that degree as both Trump and Vance have that area rising in their nativities.

But Newsom's natal Jupiter is there. So is Harris's natal Mars.

On election day, Jupiter will be retrograde at 20° Gemini, and Venus will be forming an opposition from 17° Sagittarius. Normally this would a leg up to Trump, because these are transits to his natal Sun and Moon.

But the benefics will fall across Newsom's natal midheaven/IC axis (Jupiter to the very degree), and for Harris Venus and Jupiter will splay across her ascendant/descendant axis (which includes her natal nodes).

The 25° Leo (Aries ingress midheaven) and 20° Gemini (Jupiter on election day) signatures give so much power to Trump and Vance as things stand today. But, the power in those signatures could be distributed quite differently if a candidate like Newsom were in the race with Harris as his running mate.

If the Democrats do enter a brokered convention and want to win, and astrology is the only thing we have to go on, a Newsom-Harris ticket is the answer that sweeps the board – particularly if these two are named at the convention that opens on the full Moon sharing the same angles at the election's preceding new Moon.

What if Biden doesn't drop out, and the rumors do not hold?

Well, that's the nature of rumors and reports from "inside sources" – and until confirmed, they are purely speculative.

But pressure is undeniably mounting, and Biden has been forced to re-affirm his intent to run repeatedly:

Can Biden withstand this pressure? Possibly; perhaps even probably. But consider the transits of August 14: Mars and Jupiter will be conjoined at 17° Gemini, in Joe Biden's 7th house of opponents, squaring his natal midheaven at 19° Virgo. Saturn will be transiting his 4th house cusp whilst retrograde, and as that house opposes the 10th, it stirs up rebellion from outside and within. All this comes after the Mars/Uranus conjunction opposed his natal Sun, which landed him with COVID-19 and a renewed media cycle frenzied about the Democratic ticket.

Biden may not drop out, now or ever; but August should bring even more surprises for Biden with the unfriendly contacts of the superior planets (i.e., establishment politics), and this conversation is far from over.