Brazile and Steele launch the series “Road to White House 2024”

Former Democratic National Committee Chair Donna Brazile and former Republican National Committee Chair Michael Steele kicked off Colgate's Road to the White House series on Sept. 4. Moderated by President Brian W. Casey, the question-and-answer session in the Memorial Chapel gave viewers a glimpse into the electoral process, the 2024 presidential campaign and the challenges facing America – all from the perspective of party leadership.

To replace the candidate
Brazile reminded the audience that Vice President Kamala Harris was the only one to publicly support the president's campaign when the rest of the Democratic Party deserted President Joe Biden's side after the June 27 debate with Donald Trump. Why?[Biden’s delegates] represented 14 million Americans who participated in the primaries,” she says. “Secondly, the President had his [Federal Election Commission] Reports say it’s Biden/Harris.”

This is a highly unusual practice – presidential and vice presidential candidates typically have separate accounts. It was a strong signal that as early as September 2023, when Biden made the changes, he was already hearing rumblings within his own party against his candidacy for a second term. Very few took notice.

“I just wish those conversations had been taken seriously in my party,” Steele says. “It would be a different race today if Nikki Haley were at the top of the ballot against Donald Trump.”

Who's at the party?
Nearly half of Americans are not affiliated with any political party, and Trump has made particular progress in pulling away from the fringes. “This is not a question of red or blue,” Steele says. “This is an American thing. This is how Americans see themselves. There are many more people on the fringes of hope than we pass by politically, that we ignore politically.”

According to polling data, that voter is the white, divorced, suburban New Hampshire mother of two who, when asked why she likes Donald Trump, replies, “Because he's just like me.” And that voter isn't going to abandon Trump because she believes he's delivered on his promises, Steele says.

Of course, you can't necessarily hold candidate Trump to what he says on the campaign trail. In a second Trump administration, “they're going to try to push through a national abortion ban, no matter what anyone thinks or says,” Steele says. “What Trump is doing now – he's testing some things to see how you react.”

Rock the vote
Brazile and Steele lead the Bipartisan Policy Center's Election Legitimacy Initiative. They use education campaigns to help voters understand their rights, identify misinformation, register to vote and cast their ballots, and ensure votes are counted accurately. The former party leaders made their case to the Colgate congregation from the chapel stage: We the people have the power. Don't give it to the political parties.

“There are forces that make it more difficult to register to vote,” says Brazile. “If you give power to politicians and parties, they will use it against you.”

Brazile went on to say that the primary process is not in the Constitution and can be changed to expand the field of candidates. Moreover, Kamala Harris' candidacy proved that a president can be elected in three months and that a two-year campaign cycle is unnecessary. The country could adopt ranked choice voting. Election Day could be held in the spring, rather than at the dreary end of fall. It could be a national holiday. The opportunity to make these decisions was given to the people by the Founding Fathers, who feared entrenched factionalism.

Steele suggested that the audience simply Google “Georgia voting” if they needed evidence of the processes. “What annoys me even more is hearing and seeing elected officials from my party primarily target communities of color while at the same time saying, 'Oh, we're the best party for black people.' When I see what you accomplished in Detroit, Atlanta and Philadelphia last election cycle, you're not giving me that. And you shouldn't take it either.”

A call to the next generation
Steele and Brazile addressed the students in the audience directly, urging them to use their votes at the ballot box and be engaged citizens. “With that many votes, it's hard to call it fraud,” Steele said. “Our system is designed in an ironic and interesting way. It's hard to cheat the system. It's built against fraud.”

Brazile recalled her own time as an activist, when she fought alongside other college students to end South African apartheid and establish Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a national holiday. These advances were made during the conservative Reagan administration because, according to Brazile, young Americans were motivated and organized and the two political parties maintained close ties across party lines.

“You have to understand the process, and then you have to work within it, and you can apply pressure to make something happen,” says Brazile.

And it all starts now, with an election that's 60 days away. Despite the partisan politics, voter suppression and vitriol, “this is still about us – it's still about our hopes and dreams,” Brazile says. “This is not Donald Trump's country; it's our country. This is not Kamala's country; it's our country. We have to take responsibility for our citizenship and learn to believe in each other.”

“The Road to the White House,” Colgate’s 2024 lecture series, is presented by the Office of the President and the Lampert Institute for Civic and Global Affairs. Read more.