In 1968, a turbulent year of war, urban turmoil, and assassinations, two Democratic senators, Eugene McCarthy and Robert F. Kennedy, competed in a primary election for the nomination, which was awarded at the party’s convention in Chicago. . However, as rioters fought with police in Grant Park, Vice President Hubert Humphrey, who did not enter the primary, won the nomination. (Before that, he had only 15.) But he came very close to his November victory.
The Democratic Party (followed by the Republican Party) was determined that nominating decisions would never again be decided by professional politicians in a “smoke-filled room,” and that it would democratize the nomination process through widespread primaries and ensure that “the people” decided. So in 1972, a reformed process nominated George McGovern, but by November he lost 49 states and received only 37.5 percent of the popular vote.
The phrase “smoke-filled room” was used in 1920 when Republican politicians presented the nomination to Sen. Warren G. Harding of Ohio in a room at the Blackstone Hotel, two blocks from Grant Park. has entered the American political vocabulary. His 26.2 percent victory in the popular vote is the highest since widespread popular voting began in the 1820s. Apparently “the people” liked the candidate who was born in a cloud of smoke.
This year, for the first time, Republicans could nominate the same candidate three times in a row. The Republican Party is a brave party, undaunted by the fact that its heroes have lost the popular vote twice, the second time in six of the seven battleground states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. The second time, he lost by 7 million votes. In every state except North Carolina, he carried it by 1.3 percent.
As time passed, the number of disputed states grew even larger. Michael Barone, lead author of the Yearbook of American Politics, said: “In 1960, 19 states won either candidate by a margin of less than 5 percent of the popular vote, and 13 other states won either candidate by a margin of 5 to 10 percent. ” The corresponding numbers for 2020 were he eight states and her six states. ” In 1960, 19 states with 248 electoral votes were targeted by both candidates. In 2020, there were 123 electors in the eight states targeted. If the near future is anything like the recent past, this year will be a boring presidential campaign in 42 states. I’m lucky.
The election is likely to be an excruciatingly long one, with narrow vote margins in just a few states at stake. Political homogenization is accompanied by polarization. She is one of only five sitting senators affiliated with a party whose state rejected a candidate in the 2020 presidential election.
Donald Trump plays the Republican nominee as deftly, if not more melodiously, than Yo-Yo Ma plays the cello. With a chip on his shoulder the size of a cello, Trump transformed the Republican Party from a party of optimistic hard workers into a dark band of weepy conservatives. The party aims to serve as the party of the “unfortunate me” of victims who feel forced upon them by larger groups in society (Big Tech, globalizing manufacturing companies, manipulative media, educational institutions, etc.). It’s being stolen from the Democratic Party.
Democrats now say they must save democracy from President Trump in November. (If Democrats can’t save the party by getting the Supreme Court to ban him from every state’s ballot.) But if the Democratic Party delivers an offensive outcome to the saviors of democracy in November, If he does, the party may try to save democracy from him next January. . Stephen Calabresi, a law professor at Northwestern University who blogs about the Volokh conspiracy, wonders:
Let’s assume that Trump loses the popular vote but wins an electoral majority again. Will the Democratic-controlled House count Trump’s electors? Many of our members would think that today’s Supreme Court is illegitimate and that the electoral system is an affront to democracy.
It is unclear which party will control the House on January 6th, but Kamala D. Harris will likely become the Senate president. Will she do what the Senate President (Vice President Mike Pence) did on January 6, 2021? Will she count the number of electors certified by the states, contrary to her party’s enthusiasm?
The Electoral Count Reform Act of 2022 makes clear that the President of the Senate performs mere ministerial functions. But is following ECRA more important than “saving democracy”? We should ask Harris, now.