As Harris racks up delegates, some Democrats wish nomination process was more competitive

Democrats from Massachusetts to California have coalesced with astonishing speed behind Vice President Kamala Harris, who's on the verge of becoming the party's presidential nominee just days after President Biden ended his re-election campaign. But some Democrats say a competitive process would have been better — for the party, for Harris and for democracy.

Bill Curry, a former advisor to President Bill Clinton and a two-time candidate for governor in Connecticut, is among those voices: "Since the word 'democracy' is right there in the name of the party we might as well try some," he said.

Curry said Democrats should have learned a lesson from the recent primary, which handed 81-year-old Joe Biden the nomination for reelection without a serious challenge.

"That ended in disaster," Curry said. "We shouldn't do this twice in one year. We shouldn't simply have a closed process that names, rather than elects, our candidate."

He favors an idea that a number of Democrats have pushed for: a series of mini forums, moderated by former Presidents Clinton and Obama, that would give delegates a chance to hear from Harris and other top Democrats with presidential ambitions. Veteran political strategist James Carville pushed that concept as well; so has Sen. Joe Manchin, of West Virginia.

Even former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi recommended a "competitive process," before she, too, endorsed Harris. Curry said competition would help the party, including its seemingly inevitable nominee, Harris, by allowing her to "show her stuff."

Political analysts say Harris will have to work hard to defeat former President Donald Trump, but the work of winning the nomination seems pretty much done. Biden threw his weight behind Harris upon ending his re-election campaign. She pledged to "go out and earn this nomination" and has already secured enough delegates — including all 116 from Massachusetts, who voted unanimously this week to support her.

Among them is Erin Bradley, who's running for state Senate in the Norfolk, Plymouth, and Bristol district: "She has done amazing work, both in the courtroom and for this country," Bradley said, adding that it would be "a wonderful thing to have a woman president, something that I think all little girls dream of."

Many senior party leaders have lined up to endorse Harris, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who said she's "all in for Harris." Warren said the vice president has a strong record of helping working families, while being a leading advocate for women and reproductive rights. She also said Harris, who served as attorney general in California and as a U.S. senator, has the experience to go toe-to-toe with Donald Trump.

"Who better to take it to a convicted felon than a former prosecutor?" Warren told WBUR.

Warren rejects the idea that Harris is being "coronated" rather than elected through an open and democratic process. Steve Kerrigan, chairman of the Massachusetts Democratic Party, shares that view. He said Harris is doing the hard work and earning the support of delegates and "millions of Americans."

"Because of that it's somehow a coronation?" he said. "No, it's organization."

Kerrigan said the nomination is an open process that allows anyone to run if they meet Democratic Party rules. That's true in theory. But all of the other major Democrats who have been talked about as possible presidential candidates — from Govs. Josh Shapiro to Gretchen Whitmer, Andy Beshear and others — are backing Harris.

Curry, who wanted a more competitive process, said "when every higher-up stampedes to an endorsement, when there's no process set up for candidates to appear, that's not how democracy works."

Harris might well prove to be a strong candidate in the general election, Curry said. But he laments that there's been no opportunity to debate her strengths and weaknesses — which included a spectacular flameout when she ran for president in 2020 — or to hear how her policies might differ from Biden's.

Other Democrats have raised concerns, including mega-donor John Morgan, of Florida, who said he won't contribute to Harris because he doesn't think she can win. He, too, said the party should have set up a process to vet other more centrist candidates.

“She would not be my first choice,” Morgan told The Hill. “But it’s a done deal.”

Ja'Mal Green, a Democratic activist from Chicago, said there's been no chance to hear how Harris will appeal to working class white voters in crucial swing states, like Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, where Biden's poll numbers have been slipping.

Green, who is African American, is worried that as a woman of color, Harris will have a difficult time convincing those voters to back her.

"I would have rather seen kind of a mini-primary at the convention so that we could see who has the best winning potential," he said.

Green said he's impressed with how Harris has managed to raise so much money and get so many Democrats behind her so quickly. Her challenge will be to build on that momentum for the next 100 days.