"IT’S THE PRIMARIES, STUPID!"
R. A. Schultz
Back in 1992, Bill Clinton was electorally successful at least in part for using the phrase, “It’s the economy, stupid!” The economy, of course, was about to experience the enormously positive effects of the eight-year presidency of Ronald Reagan, but as yet hadn’t started to do so. In a successful gamble, the Clintonistas coined the phrase, aided and abetted by their stalking horse, Ross Perot. Let’s see if I have any similar success in motivating We the People with this round!
We hear a lot of thunder these days about term limits for Congress, though less about where they’re urgently needed, the federal judiciary. But that’s going to be a topic for a later rant.
The fact of the matter is, those screaming for term limits are simply admitting that We the People are too damned stupid to take back our own government. The Framers of the Constitution established term limits: two- year terms for members of the House of Representatives (Article I, Section 2 – 1) and six year terms for members of the Senate (Article I, Section 3 - 1). The Framers envisioned citizen legislators, not career politicians, so they evidently didn’t foresee the need to limit re-election. Thus, We the People have at hand the ready means to limit the terms of our representatives. All we have to do is simply re-elect NO ONE. If all of us adopted this as our electoral motto, the entire problem would be solved almost instantly!
The major political parties have also given We the People the means to choose the people we put up for election. Each state has its own primary system and schedule. Some states, like Virginia for example, have “open” primaries, wherein anyone registered to vote in that state may vote in any party’s primary election. Other states, such as Florida and New York, have “closed” primaries wherein a registered voter must have formally declared party affiliation in order to vote in that party’s primary.
At the discretion of each state legislature, primary elections are scheduled well ahead of general elections, normally by several months. Voting in primaries is generally sparse, most citizens being content to follow along with the candidates put up by their party’s establishment. This, if We the People are to regain control of our government and its political processes, has got to stop! And there’s no better time for it to stop than right NOW!
At this very moment, We the People should be evaluating ALL incumbent office holders. For my part, the litmus test is the percentage of Trump support I see exhibited by each incumbent. If it’s not 100%, perhaps we should seek a replacement via the primary process. If we can’t find someone to mount a primary challenge, perhaps we should file notice of our intent to run with our local board of elections OURSELVES! This takes a combination of hard work and money, so let’s get started!
Should we be unable to mount a primary challenge, our options will be to vote for the candidate of another party, and we’ll just have to wait until they present themselves in order to determine if any of them are more pro-Trump than the incumbent! If so, that’s the way we’ll vote. In any event, the establishments of both major political parties are in trouble.
