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Eight years ago, Donna Brazile led the Democratic National Committee through a nightmare election. In mid-September, when Hillary Clinton fainted at a 9/11 memorial service, Brazile scoured party rules to see how a nominee could be replaced — potentially by Joe Biden. And after Clinton’s defeat, Brazile watched the party’s left-wing faction strip first-ballot voting power away from “superdelegates,” like her.
As the party steers through another crisis, Brazile has tried to help from her perch on the DNC rules committee. She was among the Democrats who supported a new break-glass option — a virtual nomination vote, before the convention — when Ohio Republicans dawdled over a ballot deadline that threatened the Biden-Harris ticket. Even after Ohio moved the deadline, and after the Atlanta debate sparked a Democratic panic over whether they might need to switch Biden out, Brazile told the New York Times that the virtual vote would go ahead: “We’re not playing with these people.”
Brazile talked with Americana shortly before Biden’s NATO press conference — in which he did a “very good job,” she wrote on X.
Q&A
AMERICANA: You’ve defended the idea of a virtual vote, before the convention, even after the debate. Why?
DONNA BRAZILE: Well, we made the decision back in May, before the debate. And I think for the party, and the convention committees to change the rules in the middle of the game — well, that’s called cheating. Nothing has changed. Joe Biden won. He secured the nomination, months ago. He’s the presumptive nominee. We made the decision based on what was happening in the states — in particular Ohio, but we were also hearing some silliness from other states. And I believe the vote was 300 yes votes, two no votes, and five abstentions.
I don’t believe we’re in a position to overturn the will of the party or the convention delegates. This process will now go to the convention rules committee. They will have another vote on this matter. And then it goes to the credentials committee, who will ultimately ensure that people receive the ballot that complies with the call to the convention. That’s the procedure. I’m not about to storm the White House the way some Republicans allowed their activists to storm the Capitol. This is not a time to do anything but to stand by the rules.
AMERICANA: One reason I wanted to ask about this is that, in your memoir, you write about Hillary Clinton fainting at the 9/11 memorial, and the panic over whether she could remain the nominee. How do you compare the two situations?
DONNA BRAZILE: You ready for this? My basement is a monument to the work I put into the Democratic Party in American politics. So, in anticipation of this question from reporters, I went downstairs and I found the 2016 credentials report. Page 22, it says in the event of data, resignation, or disability of a nominee of the party for president or vice president after the national convention, the chairperson the convention shall confer with the Democratic leadership of Congress and the Democratic Governors Association and shall report to the Democratic National Committee, which is authorized to fill the vacancy or vacancies. I don’t have a book for 2024 yet. That meeting will be held on the 19th.
AMERICANA: I understand that, but I’m wondering how you see the difference between these two situations. There was a panic in 2016 — can we still run Hillary? And there’s a panic now.
DONNA BRAZILE: The big difference is that it took place after the convention. In 2016, I wanted to wait until I’d received the full record of what had happened. I saw Secretary Clinton on Sept. 9, and following that event — it’s often called the “deplorable” event — I said to her, what is wrong with you? You ought to get acupuncture!
Two days later, she had that fainting episode, and she was dehydrated. She had pneumonia. There’s a whole lot of difference. Joe Biden is the sitting president of the United States. He’s the leader of the free world. He has earned the votes of 14 million Americans in the 2024 Democratic primary, and no other candidate qualified. And while they are close to 700 uncommitted delegates, Joe Biden is the overwhelming choice of the pledged Democratic delegates who are coming to the national convention. I’m not telling my neighbors in Louisiana and D.C., I know you went out to vote this year but we’re going to a brokered convention.
AMERICANA: So how have you felt about these Democrats who say they want Biden to abandon the campaign, speaking out about that, instead of rallying behind him?
DONNA BRAZILE: Three things. One, they can speak their mind and constituents might think otherwise. Two, many of the elected officials are automatic delegates. They won’t have a vote on the first ballot, that’s number two. And number three, it frees up an alternate to sit at the table in Chicago. How’s that? As I continue to remind my friends in the media, Democrats are not the type of people that would storm the White House or the Capitol.
AMERICANA: One other worry I’ve seen — related to any discussion of switching the nominee — is that Republicans would sue to keep the ticket off the ballot. My read of the state law is that this wouldn’t work. But I wondered what you thought about it.
DONNA BRAZILE: I’ve heard so many “what if”s that I’ve started to call it fantasy football. Joe Biden has been elected by the delegates to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois. He is the president of the United States and he is also the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party. The media has raised their voices and written his resignation speech, but like those members of Congress, they have no vote on the first ballot. They’ve got a lot of angst, but no vote. I’m worried about keeping the boat steady, not bringing in any more water.