A road map for Democrats between now and the convention

Opinion editor’s note: Star Tribune Opinion publishes a mix of national and local commentaries online and in print each day. To contribute, click here.

•••

Democrats should not panic. Instead, they should use all 40 days or so until the start of their convention Aug. 19 to engage with the American people about their vision and aspirations for the future of America, introduce their roster of exceptional leaders, and demonstrate that those leaders can be trusted to resolve our country’s greatest challenges and lead us through these turbulent times.

The Biden debate debacle has prompted a host of concerns about what happens if he steps aside. Those who want to keep President Joe Biden in the race have conjured up a nightmare scenario in which the convention in Chicago becomes a replay of the chaotic mess that nominated Hubert Humphrey in 1968 and served as a prelude for his ultimate defeat. Their solution — circle the wagons, support Biden, go down with the ship.

Sure, if Biden steps aside, it opens a whole slew of possible problems both practical and political. The delegates are already chosen and mostly committed to Biden. How are they to learn enough about any other candidates to make a sensible decision? They could just nominate Kamala Harris and be done with it. Doing that might make practical and political sense, but it does absolutely nothing to solve the Democrats’ biggest problem — the lack of enthusiasm, the amount of mistrust and the skepticism that have been gnawing away at the broad support the party used to enjoy across America. Harris may be the best candidate, but the public will never know that if she becomes the nominee by default. More important, Democrats will blow an opportunity to connect with all Americans, everywhere, and show that they have the caring and courage to face off against the people and the forces that have undermined the faith of so many in the future of their families and our country. They cannot wait until their convention — brokered or otherwise — to do this. They must start now.

To energize America, Democrats must deploy their secret weapon — the experience and creativity of the dozens of very effective leaders, most of whom are unknown to most Americans. Govs. Gretchen Whitmer (Michigan), Josh Shapiro (Pennsylvania), Gavin Newsom (California), Andy Beshear (Kentucky) and Wes Moore (Maryland); Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo (Rhode Island) and Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg (Indiana); Sens. Amy Klobuchar (Minnesota) and Cory Booker (New Jersey); and of course, Vice President Kamala Harris (California) along with many others who represent a wealth of talent and experience.

Democrats have plenty of time to put that talent on full display in a way that will engage and enthuse people across America and inform the decision that the convention delegates will be making in August.

The best way to fail at this task is to let the next 40 days be just another campaign — with candidates making speeches, holding fake debates, spending millions on ads, mostly negative, and focusing not on the needs of real, honest, hardworking Americans, but on Donald Trump. This cannot be just another campaign against Trump. Doing so will tell Americans that the Democrats have nothing new to offer. It will turn people off, turn even more people away — and doom the eventual “winner.”

No, for the next 40 days Democrats should not campaign. Rather they should gather their best talent, put them in a room, around a table, each week and have them hammer out the answers in real time to questions that voters care most about: “What are Democrats going to do about … 1) high prices and my family budget, 2) making housing available and affordable, 3) immigration, 4) getting medical care that makes me well but doesn’t make me poor, 5) keeping people safe, 5) corruption — the way the system is rigged for the few against the many, 6) restoring trust in our public institutions and in our relationships with one another.”

Every session would showcase the Democrats’ best talent (and likely presidential candidates): showing up, not showing off, rolling up their sleeves and working together to find answers that would give hope and confidence to the American people. During each session Americans (and especially the convention delegates) would get to see how these talented people think, what questions they ask, how in tune they are with the needs of people across the country, how well they listen and combine individual good ideas into great ones. This will be “Reality TV: Governing America.” If it’s done right, Americans will come away engaged and enthused by the commitment of Democrats to touch and improve their lives and assured that they can entrust that duty to those who will lead because they have seen them do it.

To be sure, this is not politics as usual. But this is not a time to stay that course. People so distrust our politics that doing the familiar will be fatal. Common sense tells us that it is time to start anew — so said Thomas Paine in his pamphlet by the same name — “We have it in our power begin the world over again.” President Biden can begin that work by stepping aside and calling Democrats to that task.

Peter Hutchinson is a former superintendent of Minneapolis Public Schools, former state commissioner of finance, and formerly led both the Dayton-Hudson (now Target) and the Bush Foundations. He was the Independence Party candidate for governor of Minnesota in 2006.