Politics
Sen. Dick Durbin on Kamala Harris Endorsement, DNC Plans and Vice President Picks
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin appears on “Chicago Tonight” on May 23, 2023. (WTTW News)
Illinois’ leading Democrats are following President Joe Biden’s lead in backing Vice President Kamala Harris following the president’s surprise announcement Sunday that he was ending his reelection bid.
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin is among them.
But the Springfield Democrat, who has served Illinois in the U.S. Senate since 1997, said members of his party “need to get our act together” if they’re to mount a serious challenge to former president Donald Trump.
Durbin said he can’t speculate on the technical mechanics of replacing Biden, but that it’s important it be “an orderly, timely process.”
Below is more on Durbin’s take about the upheaval at the top of the ticket, just — as he noted several times – 106 days away from the Nov. 5 election.
What happens ahead of the DNC?
“We have to get our act together,” Durbin said, particularly in regards to what will happen at the Democratic National Convention now that the party will be nominating someone other than Biden.
“I want to make sure that this is done fairly, openly, but it’s done in a timely fashion,” Durbin said. “106 days. If we’re going to wage a successful campaign against Donald Trump, we’ve got to get our act together. So I’m hoping that more Democrats will step forward to support her nomination.”
Holding a “mini primary,” as has been suggested by some Democrats and pundits, does not meet Durbin’s definition of a sensible next step.
That sounds like a “fantasy football” selection process, Durbin said. “I don’t want to see that.”
He said most delegates are pledged to Biden, who in turn has been clear that he intends for Harris to succeed him as the Democratic nominee.
“And so we’re on that path,” Durbin said. “In terms of exactly how that’s done I can’t say.”
Members of the DNC’s rules committee will be making those calls soon, as Democrats plan to hold a virtual roll call of delegates prior to the DNC on Aug. 19.
The virtual roll call began as a necessity because of a belief that Ohio law required the ballot to be settled before the start of the DNC. Even though Ohio has backed away from that, Democrats are likely to go ahead with an early August online vote of states’ delegates to avoid potential legal challenges.
As an added bonus, it could solidify the party’s presidential nominee early, avoiding a messy floor fight at the DNC.
Durbin said the pace of endorsements for Harris is coming more quickly than he’d expected.
On President Joe Biden:
Durbin called any suggestion that the 25th Amendment, which deals with presidential succession, be invoked because of Biden’s health and age “outrageous.”
“I work with this man. I know him,” Durbin said.
Durbin said Biden’s poor performance in a June debate against Trump, which led to the drumbeat of his calls to drop his campaign, “does not reflect who he is or his capacity to govern as president of the United States.”
“I still trust him implicitly when it comes to key security issues and important issues for our future,” Durbin said. “And though he might have had a bad day or a bad night that shouldn’t mean that he has anywhere near the issues that are raised by that Amendment.”
Why did Durbin wait a day to endorse Harris?
Durbin’s initial statement, released on Sunday following Biden’s bombshell, didn’t reference Harris, through a day later Durbin announced he was backing her presidential campaign.
That delay was intentional, Durbin said.
“Because Joe Biden has been my friend for 30 years, and I thought yesterday was his day,” Durbin said. “I wanted Sunday to be Joe Biden’s day.”
He hasn’t spoken with Biden about the president’s decision, but would like to, Durbin said.
On backing Harris:
Durbin said Harris called Sunday to ask for his endorsement in her run for president, and he gave it immediately.
He said Harris has been Biden’s partner in enacting his agenda.
“I respect her very much,” Durbin said.
Asked what would be the biggest difference between a Biden and a Harris administration, Durbin said it’s obvious – Harris is a woman of color while Biden, like him, is a white man.
But he said Biden and Harris “share the same values.”
Harris will invigorate the campaign, and rally young people and women to participate in the campaign, Durbin predicted.
“I think she appeals to young people, certainly to women and women of color,” he said.
Durbin said when Harris was a California senator, she sat on the U.S. Judiciary Committee, which Durbin chairs. People would stick around to here her line of questioning.
“She’s smart, she’s quick, she’s proven herself as prosecutor for the state of California, as a senator and now as the vice president,” Durbin said. “She has foreign policy experience. She is prepared for this responsibly and challenge.”
What About Harris’ role in the immigration crisis response?
Harris, who had been designated by Biden to lead the administration in tackling the root causes of immigration at the United States’ southern border, is already facing attacks from Republicans for her handling of the crisis.
Durbin said that was when the U.S. was “trying to get our footing on how to balance the offering of asylum, which is part of our nation’s history since World War II, with the reality that we were being swamped with more people than ever showing up at our border.”
He said dealing with that “took time” but Biden’s actions, which limit the number of asylum-seekers, has lead to “dramatically positive results in the last few months.”
What would have been better, Durbin said, is if a bipartisan, comprehensive immigration package endorsed by the president would have made it to Biden’s desk.
Instead, he said, Trump tanked it so that he could use it as a campaign issue and Biden wouldn’t get credit for a resolution.
If elected, Trump said he one of his first acts will be to lead the largest mass deportation in American history.
Durbin said that the first time he met Trump, just moments after Trump was sworn in as the 45th president, Durbin told Trump he had one request: To help the Dreamers, the undocumented immigrations who came to the U.S. as children.
Trump told him “I’ll take care of those kids,” Durbin said.
“Did you see what happened the four years he was president? He tried to end the program, the DACA program, which protects over 800,000 of those young people,” Durbin said.
Who will be Harris’s running mate?
First things first.
Durbin said, “first you chose the presidential nominee and then the presidential nominee chooses the running mate.”
Who could fill the rule though?
Durbin didn’t want to give names.
“I’m not going to give a list because I have too many friends who are interested. But we have many talented people, we have a strong bench in the Democratic Party,” Durbin said.
There’s time to figure it out, Durbin said.
“We can get it done. But we don’t want to spend our time fighting among ourselves at the convention,” he said. “In terms of process, let’s have an orderly, timely process and get it done quickly.
What about a Vice President Pritzker?
Pritkzer, who is believed to have national aspirations and who worked to bring the DNC to Chicago, on Monday got behind Harris – ending any speculation he may try to mount a bid himself.
Pritzker is often listed as a potential choice for a running mate.
Durbin said he hasn’t spoken with Pritkzer since Biden’s surprise announcement.
He said Illinois’ governor has been “extraordinarily effective,” particularly in leading the state through COVID-19 and economic recovery following the pandemic.
“He has a lot to offer,” Durbin said.
Will the switch at the top lead to a successful GOP legal challenge?
Durbin said he doesn’t “take that seriously at all.”
Contact Amanda Vinicky: @AmandaVinicky | [email protected]
