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.

Hundreds of Christians Abducted in Largest Mass Kidnapping in Nigerian History Amid Country’s Anti-Christian Slaughter

Trans Cult Leader’s Attorney Scolds DOJ for Misgendering Him

Trump caps week of surprises — signing release of Epstein files, embracing unlikely allies at White House

Former Missouri substitute teacher gets 10 years for trading students money, drugs for sex

Trump, Kirk shootings expose online hate breeding lone-wolf assassins, experts warn

Trump administration expands efforts to stop Christian violence in Nigeria with aid threat

Watch Fox News’ Martha MacCallum Grill Dem Who Told Military to Defy Trump

Five Billion Dollars Off: California Officials Admit They Botched Deficit Estimate By Billions

Trump says Dems who told military to defy illegal orders committed ‘sedition at the highest level’

Texas National Guard to return from Illinois ahead of Thanksgiving, Gov Abbott says

Texas A&M committee finds professor’s firing over transgender-related lesson unjustified

Man fatally shot, woman and children in critical condition after Arizona shootout

President says Chicagoans are ‘chanting bring in Trump’ after violent downtown riot leaves 8 shot, 1 dead

JFK’s granddaughter, Tatiana Schlossberg, reveals terminal cancer diagnosis in heartbreaking essay

Op-Ed: The Aftermath of No Kings and the Warning it Sends to Us All

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