Democratic debates

January 10, 2024

The Democrats’ Debate (without Biden)

Any Democrat who berates Trump for thumbing his nose at debates should be aware that Biden has done the same thing by refusing to engage with two other serious candidates, Dean Phillips and Marianne Williamson. Both have standing in the polls and would have even higher numbers if there were not a concerted effort at suppression worthy of any Republican legislature.  Florida and North Carolina have gone as far as cancelling their Democrat primaries, claiming that Biden is the only candidate!  Maybe Biden is afraid to risk the contrast between an octogenarian and two more youthful energies.  That would be smart, but the voters are the losers. 

The debate took place in Manchester at New England College’s “College Conference” sponsored by AARP.   Speaking of geriatrics, why would AARP be involved in a student conference?   Well, there they were, some white-haired ladies behind a card table full of AARP brochures and buttons as hundreds of college kids milled around.  The hotel lobby was full of tables with campaign signs and fliers: Williamson’s, Phillips’, and even Ryan Binkley, the impressive Republican pastor from Texas who I’d seen months ago, had his table, but—metaphor time—no one was there to mind the booth! Just a bunch of sad-looking caps, shirts, and signs all on their own.  But even that was not as sad as the lonely merch on the untended table for Jason Palmer, a Democratic candidate from Baltimore who I had never heard of.  What a strange thing to have these people decide to run for president.  Why not start with mayor, or town council?   There was a place on the conference schedule later on featuring these candidates who are flying so far under the radar that they’re inches away from the inevitable crash landing. 

            The debate was moderated by the very effective Josh McElveen, formerly of a local Manchester TV station, who told us in no uncertain terms that we should restrict our applause to their introduction and their final speech, so no “whoopin’ and hollerin’” along the way.  Thank you, Josh! That was enough to make this a dignified exchange of ideas instead of the unwatchable chaos of the Republicans.  

Williamson arrived and was quickly surrounded by a swarm of acolytes, many wearing her t-shirts: “Peace, Justice, Love.”  Quite a contrast with the arrogant sloganeering favored by some of the Republicans.   Phillips’ made a more modest entrance, they took the stage, were introduced, they hugged (there was some whoopin’), and then they plowed through a number of key issues, efficiently and effectively.  Go to YouTube to watch for yourselves.  

They agreed on much, especially the key point, that if Biden is the choice, the Republicans will win—all the polls show that.  Williamson’s main issue is that corporations are running America and ruining the middle class.  The government is held hostage by them and DC has become a system of legalized bribery. 

Both trained their sights on the two main parties that are destroying democracy, placing party loyalty over all else as seen by the “invisible-ization of my campaign (Williamson).”   There is not supposed to be a political class but that’s what we’ve evolved into as dissent from the party line is suppressed.

They disagreed on some things.  Phillips admires Liz Cheney’s courage for standing up to the right wing and is proud of his own efforts at bipartisanship.  His cabinet would have members from both parties in it: “A team of rivals”.  Williamson rejects that idea, and is no fan of Cheney’s voting record in Congress.  She wants a Department of Peace and a Department of Children and Youth at the cabinet level. 

Williamson channeled Daniel Webster at several points, showing her fiery, passionate side, while Phillips was more contained, soberly laying out his plans.    Both have what sound like solid ideas to deal with the big issues like the border, social security, college costs, Putin, and Gaza, mostly falling in line with the progressives.   But as we all should know, no matter who the president is, you won’t get anything done unless Congress is behind it.  The President’s biggest power is the ability to slow things down through a veto. 

So, it’s time to make some choices. If you’re a Democrat you should take their warning seriously, that to back Biden now is to risk not just losing the presidency, but a Republican landslide in Congress in November.  Time for due diligence and a look at these two candidates.

It’s always possible that, as some pundits are suggesting, Biden will bail out before the convention, leaving it to the delegates to select someone else.  It’s a good bet they won’t pick either of these two who have dared to buck the system.

August 1, 2019

The Failure of Elections in America

Not more debates! Oh please, Lord, what have we done to deserve this! CNN at its most obnoxious presented them with all the hoopla of a football game and, come on, do we really have to start it off with the National Anthem, with hands on hearts and a noble countenance that is meant to beam patriotism? And the way it was sung in the first debate!–you could barely pick out the tune amid the cacophony.

Folks, we’ve barely begun, and already I think I speak for many when I say we’ve got ourselves an election season that is way too long, campaigns that are way too expensive,  and journalists who are way too eager to report who got off the latest zinger they can use for tomorrow’s story.   Zinger democracy.  Tally them up,  score them, and whoever gets the most points wins.   How depressing.  It would seem that the electorate wants entertainment, more than statesmanship.  What hope is there for democracy?

It wasn’t supposed to be this way. The Founding Fathers had a different idea on how to elect a president, but that idea was flawed too.   There had always been a fear of democracy in the Age of Kings. Voltaire compared it to the fable of a dragon with many heads, each lashing out, attacking the other heads.  A democracy would put too much power in the hands of ignoramuses, people easily swayed by big talkers and those who know how to dazzle a crowd with promises of bread and circuses.   The answer in 1787 was to establish a safeguard to make sure that if the dimwitted populace favored someone unsuited for the presidency, wiser heads would prevail.  Those wiser heads are the Electors of the Electoral College.   The idea was that in a presidential election We the People (actually only the wealthier men) would vote, not directly for the president, but for discerning, perspicacious patriots who would put their heads together and do the final choosing for us.  Back in the 18thcentury there was a worry about the evils of “interest” which at that time meant the corrupting influences present all around us:  businesses looking to steer votes their way, landowners eager to have laws favorable to their projects, factions of all kinds leading to party politics and all the problems that go with it.  The Electors would be “interest-free”, looking out for the good of the country rather than of party.

Well, 2016 showed the fallacy of that idea.  If ever there were a time when the Electors should have overridden the will of the people, then 2016 was it.   Only ten brave souls* took that route, showing that contrary to what Hamilton and Madison believed, the Electors are nothing more than party hacks.  Patrician or pleb, it doesn’t matter—they’ve proved themselves unwilling to buck the bedazzled hoi polloi who elected them.

The Electoral College doesn’t seem to stand a chance against the celebrity, the con artist, the demagogue.   The Electors are not any wiser than the rest of us.   We might as well admit the Founders’ mistake, and directly elect the president.   But to do that, we’d have to amend the Constitution–which will never happen because the small states would lose much of their influence. Or each state could sign on to the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact by which a state’s electors would be required to vote for whoever won the popular vote nationwide.  15 states have already done so and 9 are considering it.  Think about it.

*3 of those 10 had their votes invalidated. Their cases are making their way through the courts.  2 of the remaining 7 defected from Trump, and 5 from Clinton.