Washington Post Op-ed: ‘Give the Elites a Bigger Say in Choosing the President’

The Washington Post is taking criticism for an op-ed published Tuesday by Marquette University political science professor Julia Azari, titled: “It’s time to give the elites a bigger say in choosing the president.”

Citing the “rocky start” to the Democratic Party’s presidential primary, Azari suggests that the process of choosing the nominee be taken from the people and returned to the politicians:

The current process is clearly flawed, but what would be better? … A better primary system would empower elites to bargain and make decisions, instructed by voters.

One lesson from the 2020 and 2016 election cycles is that a lot of candidates, many of whom are highly qualified and attract substantial followings, will inevitably enter the race. The system as it works now — with a long informal primary, lots of attention to early contests and sequential primary season that unfolds over several months — is great at testing candidates to see whether they have the skills to run for president. What it’s not great at is choosing among the many candidates who clear that bar, or bringing their different ideological factions together, or reconciling competing priorities. A process in which intermediate representatives — elected delegates who understand the priorities of their constituents — can bargain without being bound to specific candidates might actually produce nominees that better reflect what voters want.

SBA freezes over 100,000 California borrowers in sweeping $9B pandemic fraud crackdown

Israeli Government-Funded ‘Mobile Museum’ Set to Visit US Churches to Promote Zionism

Hundreds of Bizarre References to ‘Pizza’ in New Epstein Documents Raise Eyebrows

Conservative firebrand vows to purge ‘RINOs’ in battle to replace retiring Vern Buchanan in open Florida seat

When anti-ICE clashes trigger federal intervention: Experts explain the constitutional breaking point

North Carolina man charged with three counts of statutory rape held on ICE detainer

Nancy Guthrie’s Neighbor Details Mysterious Sighting Shortly Before Disappearance

Fox News Campus Radicals Newsletter: Top teachers’ union under fire, anti-ICE agitator network exposed

Actor and Producer Timothy Busfield Charged with Committing Child Sex Crimes on Set

Early missteps, delayed search plane response emerge in Savannah Guthrie’s mother disappearance

Fox News True Crime Newsletter: Nancy Guthrie’s abduction, Ohio dentist’s autopsy, Suitcase Killer’s sentence

Chagos handover in limbo after Trump softens on deal, bill pulled from UK Parliament

Second federal judge blocks IRS from sharing addresses with ICE

NFL Under Fire After Awards Show Is Marred by Multiple ‘Unprofessional and Disrespectful’ Gaffes

More than a dozen anti-ICE agitators hauled away by NYPD near Columbia University

Azari suggests that the parties should use what she calls “preference primaries,” which would “allow voters to rank their choices among candidates, as well as to register opinions about their issue priorities.”

After a perfunctory voting process, wlites would be able to choose a nominee based on information about what the voters want.

She acknowledges that the idea is “labor-intensive and a little risky.”

The Post is owned by Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, who is the world’s richest man. The paper’s slogan, adopted as an intended rebuke to President Donald Trump, is “Democracy dies in darkness.”

That phrase was trending on Twitter on Wednesday morning as readers reacted ironically to the op-ed.

The headline right below “democracy dies in darkness” is some A+ work

— Greg (@gwiss) February 19, 2020

>"Democracy dies in darkness"

>"Do people actually want more Democracy in their lives" pic.twitter.com/p7fPf5dFVX

— ｓａｌ🌹🏴🏴‍☠️ (@ProjektVayo) February 19, 2020