Here's How an Open Democratic Convention Would Work
About this episode
Klein interviews elections scholar Elaine Kamarck about how an open Democratic convention would actually work. She explains the nomination as a sequence: primaries allocate delegates, later processes select the actual delegates, and the convention remains the ultimate authority. They review the 1968 crisis, the McGovern-Fraser reforms, binding primaries, and the shift of power from party leaders to primary voters, distinguishing direct democracy from representative party decision-making. Kamarck argues delegates are politically experienced, often elected actors who could handle a real decision. They game out scenarios if Biden withdrew at different stages — how delegate freedom varies, and when superdelegates could vote — and conclude an open convention could be chaotic but compelling, with the party's machinery able to support a late nominee, since conventions fail over ideological or regional schisms rather than mere competition.