Former White House chief of staff Bill Daley said Friday he’s “not afraid of an open convention” and argued that it might even benefit the Democratic Party and Chicago’s role as convention host.
A savvy political strategist and former U.S. Commerce secretary, Daley is uniquely positioned to comment on President Joe Biden’s struggle to remain in the race after last month’s debate debacle amid mounting pressure to withdraw from the race against Donald Trump.
Daley, who also served as then-President Barack Obama’s chief of staff, has known Biden for decades and was deeply involved in Biden’s 1988 presidential campaign. Biden dropped out of that race amid charges of plagiarism.
The brother and son of Chicago’s two longest-serving mayors, Daley also served as Al Gore’s 2000 field general for the notorious Florida recount, which was halted by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that essentially handed the presidency to George W. Bush.
Daley said the idea of an open convention preceded by some sort of public competition between the rising stars of the Democratic Party has merit.
“I’m one who does not fear an open convention. Yes, it may be messy. … But I don’t think it would be as messy as people think. … We have some very good potential candidates out there that, if they have the ability to showcase their records and their argument for a change, it would excite, not only the Democratic Party but independents who make the difference in these elections,” Daley told the Sun-Times.
Likely to join Vice President Kamala Harris in what Daley called “that round of show horses” would be: Gov. J.B. Pritzker; California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. Daley also threw in the names of two other rising stars: Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J.
The pre-convention competition — whether through a series of town hall meetings or some other public process — would essentially “be replacing the primary system.” But Daley noted that primary turnout was anemic, in part because Biden was unopposed.
The criteria for entering that kind of truncated competition isn’t yet known.
“Yes, it’s risky. … But I don’t think we ought to be so afraid, if it got to that, somehow, that’s a death knell for the Democratic nominee. … I don’t believe that at all,” Daley said. “You’d have to have some process before to get some of these people exposed, as opposed to everyone just sitting around waiting to go to the convention hall and drop it on the floor.”
Daley acknowledged that there could be a backlash from African-American voters if Democrats throw it open instead of anointing Harris. But, he argued that the vice president “would be strengthened if she went through some process and showed the skills to pull off a contested nomination at a convention. That would give her a big advantage running into a 12-or-or-13-week campaign.”
“If she just gets anointed to be the successor, the process for her to create the excitement could be very challenging,” he said.
Chicago also stands to benefit from an open convention — and the media and voter “excitement” that it would generate, Daley said.
“If there is no major fight going on inside the hall, [what] goes on on the streets of Chicago will get even further amplified … by social media, by the media,” Daley said referring to the throngs of demonstrators expected to descend on Chicago to protest Biden’s support of Israel in its war against Hamas in Gaza.
Talk of an open convention could become moot if Biden digs in his heels and continues to resist mounting pressure to get out of the race.
Having convinced Biden to drop out of the 1988 presidential race, Daley can understand why the president and his family may be circling their wagons. Daley said they feel like he was “hounded out” of that race “wrongfully” by the media and have “harbored that feeling for a very long time.”
“There’s a bit of negativity about that happening again. But in the end, the president is a political animal. He’s been in this game for 50, 60 years and he’s got a pretty good sense of where he is,” Daley said.
Daley said that if Democratic leaders such as former House Speaker and U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries came to Biden “with a strong argument as to why they thought he shouldn’t proceed, there’s no doubt ... that he would not dismiss that off-hand at all. He has too much respect for the people I just named and their judgment as individuals.”
