Democrats' time crunch for a new candidate is still long compared to other countries

The big picture: Political experts have sometimes dubbed American elections a "permanent campaign," owing to the length of time it takes for candidates to make it through a race.

• "The primaries and caucuses don't happen in any other country in this way, where candidates run from state to state, trying to win delegates in early states on Super Tuesday states in other places," Barry Burden, director of the Elections Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, told Axios.

State of play: A new candidate, with a less conventional amount of time before the election, will face an "unheard of" path to the nomination, Burden said.

• "It hasn't happened in the modern era of the last 50 years or so, where we've had primaries and conventions the way we think of them today," he said.
• "It didn't happen in the many decades before that, when there was an old-style of convention where bargaining was happening."

How U.S. presidential elections compare to other countries

By the numbers: The 2024 presidential election kicked off with Trump's November 2022 campaign announcement, 721 days ahead of Election Day.

• Biden announced his incumbent bid 560 days before the election.

In many other countries, candidate declaration periods range from two weeks to three months before Election Day, said Cassandra Emmons, global democracy data adviser for the International Foundation for Electoral Systems.

• "There may be some internal nominations but the thing that really marks whether or not someone is on the ballot is the candidate submitting their declaration paperwork," she said.

In France, President Emmanuel Macron called for "snap" legislative elections on June 9.

• By July 11, the country had voted.
• For the French presidential election, an official list of candidates is published seven weeks before the second round of elections.
• The official electoral campaign begins four weeks before the second round.

Mexico: This year's federal election campaign ran from March 1 to May 29.

• All political activities had to be halted during the three days before the election.

Argentina: The official start of the campaign comes 50 days before the election, when political parties present a preliminary list of presidential candidates.

In parliamentary systems such as the U.K. and Canada, party leaders are chosen in a separate process, often long before elections take place.

• Still, the federal campaign periods are significantly shorter than U.S. elections.

Next steps for Democrats

The intrigue: In the primaries, constituents voted for their delegates — similar to the Electoral College for the general election.

• "The rules of the convention are such that it is also really clear that delegates have some wiggle room," Rachael Cobb, who teaches political science at Suffolk University, told Axios.
• The U.S. should focus on being prepared for operations like printing and distributing ballots with the new candidates in time for Election Day, Emmons said.

The bottom line: "We know what the rules of the Democratic convention are," Burden said. "We know what the state laws are about getting on the ballot for the general election."

• "So those things are set and they're not going to change, but the actual politics of the process has just never played out."

Go deeper: Who Democrats could choose to replace Biden after his disastrous debate