Pelosi calls Harris "astute" for winning nomination and avoiding what Democrats wanted: an open convention

On Wednesday, Former House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi stated that Kamala Harris was politically adept and seized her opportunity to win the Democratic nomination.

According to Pelosi, the Democrats' idea, in principle, was not to support Harris, but to hold an open convention to replace Joe Biden, who resigned his candidacy amid strong internal pressure to drop out of the race.

"Many of us who were concerned about the election wanted to have an open process. It was an open process, anyone could have gotten in," Pelosi said during an interview with The Wall Street Journal.

"She had the endorsement of the president, and she, politically astutely, took advantage of it and shut down — not shut down, but won the nomination. But anybody else could have gotten in," Pelosi continued, trying to explain that the party convention was democratic, even though there was no opponent running against Harris.

However, Pelosi also acknowledged that the convention is different from how it was devised.

"The convention is, of course, a different one than was envisioned one month ago, and it’s one that is going to be enthusiastically attended," Pelosi said, noting Biden's work.

"He made the decision about how we would proceed, and I respect him for the decision. His selflessness is something that the American people admire greatly, and the reaction that people have had to it, I hope, is satisfying to him in return."

Vice President Harris was immediately endorsed by Biden when he dropped out of the race. Around that time, it was rumored that several Democratic leaders, including Barack Obama, wanted a more moderate candidate, but Harris moved quickly to gain the endorsements of the delegates Biden won in the primaries and also the backing of major party figures such as the Clintons.

Overall, Pelosi's words confirm that party leaders wanted an open convention to choose Biden's replacement, but, in the end, Harris broke in and prevented such a process.

Although the nomination handover was orderly and clean, largely because Biden decided to withdraw in time, the Democratic Party has been criticized for two reasons: in the first place, they avoided a competitive primary election process and in second, they did not have a truly open convention to choose their nominee.

In fact, Democratic leaders, big donors and the media had decided to pressure the candidate-elect to drop out of the race because of his dismal performance in the polls.

The situation looks problematic especially for a party that claims to be "pro-democracy" and whose convention revolves around "defending democracy" from Donald Trump.