This is different than your auction analogy is because there is no contract between the buyers and the seller that forces the seller to finish the transaction. Many candidates drop out of races of after they raise money and even win primaries. In those cases it’s often because a scandal comes out and they become “unelectable.” the only people complaining of MAGAs who saw trump trouncing Biden.
Using my "auction analogy" is merely parsing my choice of words, and sidestepping the reality of the bigger picture here by citing what you can criticize, right or wrong, as perhaps not the best analogy on my part. But going back to "there's no contract." Well there is a contract when it comes to elections. It's ingrained in our Constitution, and every voter signs it... when they vote.
There is no contract that says the candidate voted for has to do the job. Voting does not equal conscription. technically the primaries are a contract with the party and the candidate. It has nothing to do with the constitution. It’s like voting for president of the local elks. The contract is between the party and the candidate. In the case of the democrats they couldn’t force biden to quit, but he could choose on his own terms. Even the actual election is only a contract to vote for the electoral college delegates. Those delegates can vote for whomever they want (though they really never break ranks). I think you are missing the fact that Biden quit on his own and I think you would agree that no one is obligated to run for office just because some (or a bunch of) people asked him too.
They wanted Biden to step down because they say he was unfit, too old, not healthy... Biden gets Covid...the doctors discover something about his health. Biden steps down... Now they're mad as hell that Biden stepped down only because they now see how energized the Democrats became behind Harris along with the fact a record was broken for campaign donations. What the fuck were they thinking ??? What's that saying...be careful of what you wish for. wrbtrader