What role would Michigan delegates play in a contested DNC?

In the latest episode of Created equal, Moderator Stephen Henderson was joined by a political historian and an “undecided” delegate from Michigan to discuss something that hasn’t happened during a presidential campaign in a very long time – an open political convention.

As speculation mounts about whether or not President Joe Biden will drop out of the race, some members of the Democratic Party are calling for an open party congress in which the delegates in the plenary session fight over which candidate will represent the party.

But what would an open convention actually look like how and how would it work? Professor Matt Dallek and political strategist Abbas Alawieh shared their thoughts.

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Guests:

Professor Matt Dallek is a political historian at George Washington University and author of the book “Birchers: How the John Birch Society Radicalized the American Right.” He compared modern political caucuses to those of the 1960s, when both parties began to make their primaries mandatory.

“Before 1968, there were a handful of primaries that were sort of beauty contests. But the primaries were not binding, so whoever won those primaries was not guaranteed to get the state delegate,” Dallek said. “But after 1968, if you won the state of Michigan in a primary, for example, you were guaranteed those delegates as a candidate. And so it really became a decision for the primary voters rather than a decision for the party bosses, and that, in a nutshell, is the system we have today.”

Abbas Alawi is an “undecided” delegate for the Michigan Democratic primary. He says President Biden will risk the presidency if he does not change his position on Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza.

“We are living through an interesting historical moment,” Alawieh said. “There are a lot of questions about whether the president can win, not only because of his Gaza policy, but because of other issues that have come up after the debate. The assassination attempt that we saw over the weekend. The question of how we defeat Donald Trump’s hateful agenda is really important and on the minds of many delegates I speak with.”

Listen Created equal with host Stephen Henderson weekdays from 9-10 a.m. ET on 101.9 WDET and Streaming on demand.