What is democracy? Merriam-Webster defines it this way: “rule of the majority; a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections.”
Earlier this year there was a primary election where registered voters of each political party were asked to choose who would represent them in the general election in November. The final tally resulted in the selection of delegates who would be committed to the winner in each state when the party later chose its candidate during a convention.
In the primary election there were several candidates to represent the Republican party; one was chosen. But only the incumbent was chosen to represent Democrats. Note: This is common to both parties.
In 2020 there was a similar process, but in this election there were several Democrat candidates. One of those candidates failed before the first statewide election in the selection process occurred in Iowa and only placed third in the California primary. Kamala Harris had near zero support from Democrats.
Fast forward to 2024. The Democrats’ chosen candidate was deemed ineffective based on poling data, and the ruling elders of the Democratic Party decided he couldn’t beat the Republican candidate. So, they applied considerable pressure for him to drop out of the campaign, thus usurping the “rule of the majority” and instead put a candidate on the ballot who had no support from the party in the 2020 primary election.
The mantra of Democrats has been that the Republicans must be defeated because they are a “threat to democracy”; based on the above chronical of what has happened over the last few weeks, there is already one political party that defeated democracy.
When we examine the policymaking efforts of Democrats, they lean heavily toward avoiding democracy. How? By voiding a vote of the people and simply anointing a new candidate without following long-standing protocols and dictating who all of you hardworking Democrats would be allowed to vote for in the coming general election.
You should all think carefully about this. In local elections people start by collecting enough signatures for registered voters to get a spot on the ballot. Then they must convince enough people to vote for them.
When Kamala Harris tried to convince folks to support her in 2020, she failed miserably; since she has been in office, she hasn’t been able to complete many of the tasks the president gave her. Instead, she has used simplistic phrases and gestures in most of her appearances at home and abroad to explain herself.
You should give this some thought: Are you willing to simply roll over and play dead and wait for orders from above to cast your vote? I know most Democrats could not support the Republican candidate, but maybe you should all sit this one out at the presidential level and only vote for so-called “down ballot” candidates.
And, if the party “elite” will throw someone who has been loyal to their cause for more than five decades under the bus in favor of someone who didn’t even qualify for a debate in 2020, what would they do to you? Why not wait until 2028 when you might have a choice during the primaries to choose your representative? That’s democracy.
Ron Fink writes to the Sun from Lompoc. Send a letter for publication to letters@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Aug 8-18, 2024.
Usual sour grapes from the right. They always claim to be victims. Just look at Trump, who has more grievances than there are stars in the sky.
Harris received over 4,500 of the delegates to the Democratic Convention. Or 99% of available delegates. Last time I checked, the will of the people is carried out by these delegates. Sounds like democracy in action to me.
Mr. Fink, your lack of knowledge or self-serving forgetfulness is enough to reject your assertions, but here is the truth:
First, in primary elections, voters select delegates who meet at a convention to nominate the party’s candidates. Both parties do this.
Second, President Biden wasn’t forced to do anything. That mischaracterization serves your false narrative. He was met by leaders he respected who showed him how he could achieve his goal of protecting the country from the only candidate hostile to Democracy, DJT. We know this because DJT did it on Jan 6, 2021 and tells us how he will do it if elected.
Third, out of respect for Democracy, President Biden did what George Washington did, he stepped away from another term in the most powerful position in the world, for the greater good.
Fourth, the delegates, now released from their commitment, were free to democratically nominate a candidate within the rules of the Democratic Party as they were democratically elected to do.
Democracy lives in the Democratic Party and your “concern” for our situation betrays your fear that DJT is getting ready to host the Biggest Loser tv show.