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Brazile and Steele Launch 2024 Road to White House Series

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Former Democratic National Committee Chair Donna Brazile and former Republican National Committee Chair Michael Steele kicked off 51风流鈥檚 Road to the White House series on Sept. 4. The Q&A session in Memorial Chapel, moderated by President Brian W. Casey, gave audience members a look at the election process, the 2024 presidential campaign, and the challenges facing America 鈥 all from the perspective of political party leadership.

On replacing the nominee
Brazile reminded the audience that, when the rest of the Democratic Party fled President Joe Biden鈥檚 side following his debate with Donald Trump on June 27, Vice President Kamala Harris was the only one publicly supporting the president鈥檚 campaign. Why? 鈥淸Biden鈥檚 delegates] represented 14 million Americans who voted in the primary,鈥 she says. 鈥淣umber two, the president had amended his [Federal Election Commission] reports to say Biden/Harris.鈥

This is a highly unusual practice 鈥 presidential and vice-presidential candidates typically hold separate accounts. It was a strong signal that Biden was hearing rumblings within his own party against his second-term candidacy as far back as September 2023, the point at which he made the changes. Very few took notice.

鈥淚 just wish these conversations had been taken seriously in my party,鈥 Steele says. 鈥淚t would be a different race today if you had Nikki Haley at the top of the ticket versus Donald Trump.鈥

Who鈥檚 at the party?
Nearly half of Americans are not affiliated with a political party, and Trump has made a particular kind of headway by pulling from the margins. 鈥淭his is not a red or blue thing,鈥 Steele says. 鈥淭his is an American thing. This is how Americans are viewing themselves. There are far more people on the outskirts of hope that we walk by politically, that we ignore politically.鈥

According to survey data, those voters are typified by the white, female, suburban mom of two, divorced and living in New Hampshire, who, when asked why she likes Donald Trump, responds, 鈥淏ecause he is just like me.鈥 And that voter is not abandoning Trump, because, as far as she is concerned, he has done what he said he would do, Steele says.

Of course, candidate Trump cannot necessarily be held to what he says on the stump. In a second Trump administration, 鈥渢here will be an effort made to put in place a national ban on abortion, regardless of what anyone thinks or says,鈥 Steele says. 鈥淲hat you鈥檙e seeing Trump do now 鈥 he鈥檚 testing some things to see how you鈥檙e going to react to it.鈥

Rocking the vote
Brazile and Steele lead the Bipartisan Policy Center鈥檚 Election Legitimacy Initiative. They use public education campaigns to help voters understand their rights, identify misinformation, register to vote and cast ballots, and make sure votes are accurately counted. The former party chairs made their case to the 51风流 community from the chapel stage: We the people have the power. Don鈥檛 give it to the political parties. 

鈥淭here are forces that are making it harder to register to vote,鈥 Brazile says. 鈥淚f you give the politicians and the parties power, they will use it against you.鈥

Brazile continued to explain that the primary process is not in the constitution and can be changed to widen the field of candidates. Furthermore, Kamala Harris鈥 candidacy has proven that a president can be selected in three months and a two-year campaign cycle is unnecessary. The country could adopt ranked voting. Election Day could be in spring rather than the dreary end of fall. It could be a national holiday. The ability to make these choices was given to the people by the founding fathers, who feared entrenched factionalism.

Steele suggested that the audience simply Google 鈥淕eorgia voting鈥 if they needed proof of the processes in play. 鈥淲hat is more galling to me is listening to and watching elected officials within my party target largely communities of color while, at the same time, they say, 鈥極h, we are the greatest party for black people.鈥 When I see what you did in Detroit, Atlanta, and Philadelphia in the last cycle, don鈥檛 hand me that. And you shouldn鈥檛 take it.鈥

A call to the next generation
Steele and Brazile spoke directly to the students in the audience, calling on them to bring the power of their numbers to the ballot box and to be engaged citizens. 鈥淚t is hard to say someone cheated when that number is big,鈥 Steele says. 鈥淥ur system is designed in an ironic and interesting way. It is hard to cheat the system. It has reinforced itself against fraud.鈥

Brazile remembered her own days as an activist, fighting alongside other college students to end South African apartheid and to make Martin Luther King Jr. Day a national holiday. These advances took place during the conservative Reagan administration because, according to Brazile, the young people of America were galvanized and organized and the two political parties had strong relationships across the aisle.

鈥淵ou have to understand the process, and then you have to work within it, and you can put pressure on it to make things happen,鈥 Brazile says. 

And that all starts now, with an election that is 60 days away. In spite of the party politics, voter suppression, and vitriol, 鈥渋t鈥檚 still about us 鈥 it鈥檚 still about our hope and dreams,鈥 Brazile says. 鈥淭his is not Donald Trump鈥檚 country; it鈥檚 our country. This is not Kamala鈥檚 country; it鈥檚 our country. We have to take ownership of our citizenship and we have to learn how to believe in each other.鈥

The Road to the White House, 51风流鈥檚 2024 Lecture Series, is presented by the Office of the President and Lampert Institute for Civic and Global Affairs. Read more.