Ah, presidential primary season. As a student of the political process, I have many thoughts to share. That said, for the sake of brevity, I'm going to gloss over most substantive policy talk. (Please feel free to comment or email to hash things out in more detail.) Instead, I want to address the purpose - and pitfalls - of primary elections.
Under the veil of this (semi-)anonymous blog, I hope I've accurately represented myself as a progressively minded young lawyer-mom. Hence, even readers who don't know me personally shouldn't have trouble assuming that such a person tends to vote for Democrats.
Last week, I was speaking with another progressively minded 25-to-34-year-old woman about the Democratic primary candidates. If Donald Trump is the inappropriate drunk uncle at a wedding, we determined that Bernie Sanders is the wacky hippie cousin who shows up to the reception on a Vespa without having RSVPed, wearing Birkenstocks even though it's snowing outside. We concluded that while Hillary Clinton may be a little too ensconced in the establishment to accurately represent our views, Sanders's ideas are too radical to 1) win him the Electoral College and 2) implement if he is elected president. While it would be nice to live in a world where Bernie is a viable candidate, we agreed that Hillary is the safer bet.
The other day, however, I remembered that I have an undergraduate degree in political science, and I completely changed my mind.
Don't get me wrong. If Hillary is the party's nominee, I will gladly cast my vote in her favor. Sanders himself has said as much. But choosing a nominee isn't necessarily the most important part of primary elections.
Stay with me here. Yes, the end result of the primaries are huge nominating conventions, at which each party designates its nominee for President based on which candidate has the most delegate support. In the meantime, the primaries provide an opportunity for different factions of each party to have their views heard. By supporting candidates and ideas that are less popular, voters force mainstream candidates and institutions to more carefully consider their positions. Throw out whatever cliché you'd like: Rome wasn't built in a day, slow and steady wins the race, etc. Sanders - and Ben Carson, John Kasich, et al. on the GOP side - might not gain enough support to secure the nomination. Nonetheless, the political process is not served by their supporters simply throwing in the towel at the start of the primary season. The farther a fringe candidate lasts in the primaries, the more voice his or her ideas are given.
For Democrats who feel that Bernie is too liberal and Hillary isn't progressive enough, it's easy for this primary to seem like a lose-lose. Instead, I've chosen to view it as a win-win. If I support Sanders now, and he wins the nomination, great. If he doesn't, I've still done my part by advancing his policies and keeping the conversation focused on issues I feel are important.
Like I said, this is not intended to be a substantive discussion or soapbox lecture. Feel free to despise the person who I've chosen to vote for. If your values align with Hillary's position, vote for her. If you're voting in the Republican primary, and you believe that Jeb Bush is the best candidate, please vote for him even if your fellow party members say he doesn't stand a chance. Progress will not be achieved if voters want to use their primary ballots safely, instead of meaningfully.
This situation reminds me of an episode of The West Wing. It's the Democratic National Convention, with no clear favorite having yet emerged amongst the party's presidential candidates. This means that a balloting procedure takes place, with 2,162 delegate votes needed to secure the nomination. Congressman Matt Santos, played by Jimmy Smits, is asked to withdraw from the race and support one of the other candidates. The party backroom feels that he's probably not going to win anyway, and he might as well move things along by dropping out. Instead, he says the following when addressing the arena full of delegates:
Under the veil of this (semi-)anonymous blog, I hope I've accurately represented myself as a progressively minded young lawyer-mom. Hence, even readers who don't know me personally shouldn't have trouble assuming that such a person tends to vote for Democrats.
Last week, I was speaking with another progressively minded 25-to-34-year-old woman about the Democratic primary candidates. If Donald Trump is the inappropriate drunk uncle at a wedding, we determined that Bernie Sanders is the wacky hippie cousin who shows up to the reception on a Vespa without having RSVPed, wearing Birkenstocks even though it's snowing outside. We concluded that while Hillary Clinton may be a little too ensconced in the establishment to accurately represent our views, Sanders's ideas are too radical to 1) win him the Electoral College and 2) implement if he is elected president. While it would be nice to live in a world where Bernie is a viable candidate, we agreed that Hillary is the safer bet.
The other day, however, I remembered that I have an undergraduate degree in political science, and I completely changed my mind.
Don't get me wrong. If Hillary is the party's nominee, I will gladly cast my vote in her favor. Sanders himself has said as much. But choosing a nominee isn't necessarily the most important part of primary elections.
Stay with me here. Yes, the end result of the primaries are huge nominating conventions, at which each party designates its nominee for President based on which candidate has the most delegate support. In the meantime, the primaries provide an opportunity for different factions of each party to have their views heard. By supporting candidates and ideas that are less popular, voters force mainstream candidates and institutions to more carefully consider their positions. Throw out whatever cliché you'd like: Rome wasn't built in a day, slow and steady wins the race, etc. Sanders - and Ben Carson, John Kasich, et al. on the GOP side - might not gain enough support to secure the nomination. Nonetheless, the political process is not served by their supporters simply throwing in the towel at the start of the primary season. The farther a fringe candidate lasts in the primaries, the more voice his or her ideas are given.
For Democrats who feel that Bernie is too liberal and Hillary isn't progressive enough, it's easy for this primary to seem like a lose-lose. Instead, I've chosen to view it as a win-win. If I support Sanders now, and he wins the nomination, great. If he doesn't, I've still done my part by advancing his policies and keeping the conversation focused on issues I feel are important.
Like I said, this is not intended to be a substantive discussion or soapbox lecture. Feel free to despise the person who I've chosen to vote for. If your values align with Hillary's position, vote for her. If you're voting in the Republican primary, and you believe that Jeb Bush is the best candidate, please vote for him even if your fellow party members say he doesn't stand a chance. Progress will not be achieved if voters want to use their primary ballots safely, instead of meaningfully.
This situation reminds me of an episode of The West Wing. It's the Democratic National Convention, with no clear favorite having yet emerged amongst the party's presidential candidates. This means that a balloting procedure takes place, with 2,162 delegate votes needed to secure the nomination. Congressman Matt Santos, played by Jimmy Smits, is asked to withdraw from the race and support one of the other candidates. The party backroom feels that he's probably not going to win anyway, and he might as well move things along by dropping out. Instead, he says the following when addressing the arena full of delegates:
"It's been suggested to me that party unity is more important than your democratic rights as delegates. It's not. And you have a decision to make. Don't vote for us because you think we're perfect. Don't vote for us because of what you think we might be able to do for you only. Vote for the person who shares your ideals, your hopes, your dreams. Vote for the person who most embodies what you believe we need to keep our nation strong and free."
Sounds pretty good to me. What do you think?
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