How an Open Democratic Convention Would Work
b'After President Biden\\u2019s rough performance at the first presidential debate, the question of an open convention has roared to the front of Democratic politics. But how would an open convention work? What would be its risks? What would be its rewards? \\n\\nIn February, after I first made the case for an open Democratic convention, I interviewed Elaine Kamarck to better understand what an open convention would look like. She literally wrote the book on how we choose presidential candidates, \\u201cPrimary Politics: Everything You Need to Know About How America Nominates Its Presidential Candidates.\\u201d But her background here isn\\u2019t just theory. She\\u2019s worked on four presidential campaigns and on 10 nominating conventions \\u2014 for both Democrats and Republicans. She\\u2019s a member of the Democratic National Committee\\u2019s Rules Committee. And her explanation of the mechanics and dynamics of open conventions was, for me, extremely helpful. It\\u2019s even more relevant now than it was then. \\n\\nBook Recommendations:\\n\\nAll the King\\u2019s Men by Robert Penn Warren\\n\\nThe Making of the President 1960 by Theodore H. White\\n\\nQuiet Revolution by Byron E. Shafer\\n\\nThoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at ezrakleinshow@nytimes.com.\\n\\nYou can find transcripts (posted midday) and more episodes of \\u201cThe Ezra Klein Show\\u201d at nytimes.com/ezra-klein-podcast, and you can find Ezra on Twitter @ezraklein. Book recommendations from all our guests are listed at https://www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-klein-show-book-recs.\\n\\nThis episode of \\u201cThe Ezra Klein Show\\u201d was produced by Annie Galvin. Fact checking by Michelle Harris, with Kate Sinclair and Kristin Lin. Our senior engineer is Jeff Geld. Our senior editor is Claire Gordon. The show\\u2019s production team also includes Rollin Hu. Original music by Isaac Jones. Audience strategy by Kristina Samulewski and Shannon Busta. The executive producer of New York Times Opinion Audio is Annie-Rose Strasser. And special thanks to Sonia Herrero.'