Bipartisan Experts Discuss Presidential Campaigns, Third Parties, and Voter Engagement at Knox Conversations

On October 17, Northwestern Pritzker School of Law held its annual Knox Conversations, a discussion series featuring a bipartisan panel of incisive political thinkers and legal practitioners. During the second installment, titled “America, 2024, and a Political Reckoning?” Paul Begala, political commentator for CNN; Michael Steele, former Lt. Governor of Maryland and former chairman of the Republican National Committee; and Jason DeSanto, senior lecturer at Northwestern Pritzker Law and former political debate strategist discussed the 2024 presidential campaign and the broader context of tumultuous times.

Dean Hari Osofsky welcomed the audience of law students, faculty, alumni, and guests gathered in Thorne Auditorium. “With less than three weeks until Election Day, today’s topic could not be more timely and important,” said Dean Osofsky. “Now more than ever, Universities and particularly their law schools have an important role to play in fostering constructive dialogue about the major issues facing our society and legal system.”

DeSanto focused on the 2024 election, remarking to Steele, “You were once chair of the Republican Party in 2010. You wrote a book called Right Now: A 12-Step Program for Defeating the Obama Agenda, but you have made no bones about it in this race. You support Kamala Harris.” He asked Steele if he was still a Republican.

Steele said, “Yes, absolutely.” He explained how, in 1976, he made “a conscious choice to join a party that was an anathema to many of my friends and family members” because his mother taught him to be a leader, not a follower when it came to things that mattered to him. “I discovered that the Republican Party is the political home for African Americans. This is where we found our political legs, our political voice, and began to become a part of the political leadership of this country.” Steele noted that the first Black members of Congress, first Black senators, and first Black governors were all Republicans, saying that the party was founded on a fundamental principle: individual liberties and rights. “That’s an important value for me. I cannot compromise that.”

DeSanto asked Begala and Steele how they reconcile that two-thirds of Americans surveyed say they feel exhausted when it comes to politics, yet elections in 2018, 2020, and 2022 were three of the highest turnout elections in the history of the country. “When people are agitated, they vote,” answered Begala.

Steele pointed out how discord is still prevalent today. “I just today tweeted out a quote from Donald Trump from a Pennsylvania rally where he said that they’re cheating. ‘They’re stealing the election. They’re out of control. They’re out of control in Philadelphia. They’re out of control in Detroit. They’re out of control in Atlanta.’ Who lives in Philadelphia, Atlanta, and Detroit? Come on, people.”

DeSanto asked the candidates about how Harris and Trump were choosing to run their campaigns. Begala noted that it was “astonishing” that Harris had only been a presidential candidate for 89 days (as of October 17). “Barack Obama, from the time he declared to November of 2008, had 633 days. George Bush had 512 from the time he announced until general election night. Joe Biden had 558. Harris will have about 107,” DeSanto said.

“Donald Trump has nine years and six months as a presidential candidate. I’m not kidding,” said Begala. He noted how despite attempted assassinations, a successful presidential convention, receiving Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s endorsement, and discussing pet-eating during a presidential debate, Trump’s approval ratings have barely moved. “Some love him, some hate him, but he trades in the most narrow range. That means what Kamala has to do is assemble the 53 (percent) that cannot possibly support this guy.”

DeSanto asked Steele, “Michael, have you considered starting a party?”

“Yes, absolutely,” Steele replied, saying that he supports the primary process and rank-choice voting. “I’m a very strong supporter and advocate for the national popular vote in which the states enter into a compact to agree to put their electoral college votes in a bucket. The winner of the national popular vote, the person who gets the most votes, wins those 270 electoral votes.”

“I’m for everything Michael said except a third party,” Begala replied. He noted that a minority party “will rule this country for as long as there’s a third party.” He pointed out that at the moment, Kamala Harris was holding together a coalition “from AOC [Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez] to Liz Cheney. You try doing that. That ain’t easy.”

DeSanto wrapped up the discussion by asking the panelists who they think will win the 2024 Presidential election. Begala said he both believed and hoped that Harris would win, adding a caveat to the public: “Get off social media. Social media is incompatible with democracy. One will live and one will die. I was on Twitter. I had 370,000 followers. I was [Tweeting] 100 times a day and it made me a terrible person. Made me stupid, hateful, glib, thoughtless. We won’t survive when people are getting their information from social media.”

Steele agreed that Harris would win, predicting “For the first time, white suburban women will not turn their backs on the female candidate.” He foresaw abortion, cannabis, and other issues on the ballots in some of the battleground states that would motivate voters who otherwise would not necessarily come out. “Democrats have done an incredibly good job at voter registration,” Steele said. “I give you what happened when Taylor Swift endorsed Kamala Harris. Four hundred thousand people registered in one night. Republicans don’t have anything close to that.”

DeSanto closed the discussion with a quote from Abraham Lincoln. “Let us have ‘a reverence for the Constitution and the laws and that we improved to the last and that we remained free to the last.’”

“Amen,” replied Steele.

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The Knox Conversations were established by the Knox family, who made a significant philanthropic investment to fund activities and events focusing on public debate and respectful discourse. Their wish is to create space for an open exchange of ideas on matters of importance to the legal and Law School community.