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.
Parents’ relentless hunt for missing daughter heats up as new tech breathes life into case
Pentagon Contractor Indicted for Leaking Classified Info to the Washington Post
Trump warns Canada of 100% tariffs if it becomes China’s ‘drop off port’ with new potential trade deal
Legal Analyst: There Are Still Several Ways Pam Bondi Can Charge Don Lemon for His Conduct
Campus Radicals: Union member tell-all, Dems back to DEI ways, more violent leftist threats on campus
Trump takes aim at Senate ‘blue slip’ tradition as GOP resists change
The Tide Has Turned on DEI in Nearly Every Major Institution, But Teachers and Educators Refuse to Ditch It
Hawaii RNC members pay their way to represent state: ‘It’s not a cheap hobby’
Cruz back in Texas after photo of him boarding plane sparks backlash ahead of winter storm
‘I Went to Princeton and Harvard!’: Michelle Obama Complains About Being Known as ‘Barack Obama’s Wife’
Johnson warns House Republicans to ‘stay healthy’ as GOP majority shrinks to the edge
Navy Under Secretary Hung Cao says personnel discharged over vaccine mandate were ‘failed’
Pentagon plans to give South Korea primary role in deterring North Korea threats under new strategy
Minnesota ‘on the clock’ as HHS threatens penalties over childcare fraud scandal
Man who allegedly threatened to shoot ICE agents had rifles, body armor and ammo cache, feds say
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
Parents’ relentless hunt for missing daughter heats up as new tech breathes life into case
Pentagon Contractor Indicted for Leaking Classified Info to the Washington Post
Trump warns Canada of 100% tariffs if it becomes China’s ‘drop off port’ with new potential trade deal
Legal Analyst: There Are Still Several Ways Pam Bondi Can Charge Don Lemon for His Conduct
Campus Radicals: Union member tell-all, Dems back to DEI ways, more violent leftist threats on campus
Trump takes aim at Senate ‘blue slip’ tradition as GOP resists change
The Tide Has Turned on DEI in Nearly Every Major Institution, But Teachers and Educators Refuse to Ditch It
Hawaii RNC members pay their way to represent state: ‘It’s not a cheap hobby’
Cruz back in Texas after photo of him boarding plane sparks backlash ahead of winter storm
‘I Went to Princeton and Harvard!’: Michelle Obama Complains About Being Known as ‘Barack Obama’s Wife’
Johnson warns House Republicans to ‘stay healthy’ as GOP majority shrinks to the edge
Navy Under Secretary Hung Cao says personnel discharged over vaccine mandate were ‘failed’
Pentagon plans to give South Korea primary role in deterring North Korea threats under new strategy
Minnesota ‘on the clock’ as HHS threatens penalties over childcare fraud scandal
Man who allegedly threatened to shoot ICE agents had rifles, body armor and ammo cache, feds say
File this under: “Democracy dies in Darkness” https://t.co/VbD9kvJgWl
— Oliver Hidalgo-Wohlleben (@OliverHidWoh) February 19, 2020
Azari’s article appears to anticipate the possibility of a “brokered convention” among Democrats this summer. Currently, no candidate is projected to win a majority of delegates before they gather in Milwaukee, Wisconsin — near Professor Azari’s university — at the Democratic National Convention.
Average projected delegates through Super Tuesday:
Sanders 608 (41% of delegates thru March 3)
Bloomberg 273 (18%)
Biden 270 (18%)
Buttigieg 157 (10%)
Warren 127 (8%)
Klobuchar 55 (4%)https://t.co/JDz2dZ8bqR— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) February 18, 2020
Parents’ relentless hunt for missing daughter heats up as new tech breathes life into case
Pentagon Contractor Indicted for Leaking Classified Info to the Washington Post
Trump warns Canada of 100% tariffs if it becomes China’s ‘drop off port’ with new potential trade deal
Legal Analyst: There Are Still Several Ways Pam Bondi Can Charge Don Lemon for His Conduct
Campus Radicals: Union member tell-all, Dems back to DEI ways, more violent leftist threats on campus
Trump takes aim at Senate ‘blue slip’ tradition as GOP resists change
The Tide Has Turned on DEI in Nearly Every Major Institution, But Teachers and Educators Refuse to Ditch It
Hawaii RNC members pay their way to represent state: ‘It’s not a cheap hobby’
Cruz back in Texas after photo of him boarding plane sparks backlash ahead of winter storm
‘I Went to Princeton and Harvard!’: Michelle Obama Complains About Being Known as ‘Barack Obama’s Wife’
Johnson warns House Republicans to ‘stay healthy’ as GOP majority shrinks to the edge
Navy Under Secretary Hung Cao says personnel discharged over vaccine mandate were ‘failed’
Pentagon plans to give South Korea primary role in deterring North Korea threats under new strategy
Minnesota ‘on the clock’ as HHS threatens penalties over childcare fraud scandal
Man who allegedly threatened to shoot ICE agents had rifles, body armor and ammo cache, feds say
If no candidate wins on the first ballot, there will be a second — at which point committed delegates will be free to choose other candidates, and the party elites, known as “superdelegates,” will be able to vote.
Also on Tuesday, billionaire oligarch Mike Bloomberg, who once changed the rules to run for a third term as mayor of New York City, qualified for the Democrat debate in Nevada on Wednesday evening.
Story cited here.
