If Biden drops out, there are two options: (1) the incumbent Vice President, who is already on the ballot; (2) someone else.
(1) Has strong arguments for being the consensus candidate. Maybe they work and Dems rally.
(2) Does not. Not any of them. Guaranteed chaos, infighting, and bitterness.
If the Democrats do push Biden out, I predict there will be no consensus on a replacement candidate, leading to infighting and, ultimately, a realization that the Democrats have a stable full of flawed candidates that cannot gather national support, particularly in a short time window.
I know it's too late to change things, but would ranked choice voting resolve (2)? You should end up with a candidate that a majority are "ok" with, even if they aren't their first or second choice.
It wouldn’t because there are no more primaries. Ranked choice voting is a method to choose politicians in elections. There are no more primary elections left and no time to do it all over even if it was procedurally possible.
IMHO, in current circumstances, there's no way to have a contested convention that doesn't leave a substantial portion of potential Dem voters disillusioned, angry, and less likely to vote for the candidate. The margins of victory are too narrow, and the non-voter rate too high, to risk it.
Not to mention the survivor of that convention fight may have numerous scandals that, because they haven’t been in the presidential spotlight, never previously came to light.
