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.

Watch: ‘The View’ Hit Its Lowest Low Ever as Joy Behar Attacks ‘Narcissistic’ Jesus in Blasphemous On-Air Rant

Trump taps former deputy surgeon general to helm CDC

Ketanji Brown Jackson Publicly Attacks Her Supreme Court Colleagues for ‘Utterly Irrational’ Decisions

Scamming the West: What’s really behind the UN’s ahistorical transatlantic slavery resolution

Israel and Lebanon take a critical step forward on the road to peace

The un-shock effects of ‘Undertone’

Greenland talks on ‘good trajectory,’ White House says amid Trump takeover push

House punts Trump spy powers extension after conservatives block deal, forcing end-of-month showdown

Trump admin announces expansion of visa restriction policy in Western Hemisphere

Singer D4vd arrested and held without bail in case tied to teen found dead in Tesla: Police

EXCLUSIVE: NYC officials refuse ICE hold for illegal alien accused in arson that killed 4 and injured 7: DHS

Ex-teacher faces 25 charges, including rape and abuse as investigation widens

Jerome Powell Now Considering Move to Spite Trump: Report

Missing pregnant woman found dead after mysterious Texas disappearance

Franklin Graham defends Trump in letter shared on Truth Social after AI ‘Jesus’ image backlash

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