Something to Watch in Presidential Politics
Pay attention to the presidential nominating system of the 'No Labels' party
I am not asking you to like the No Labels party or to agree with its stated aim of elevating leadership based on integrity, good will, and moderation.
But I do recommend that you pay attention to how the party nominates its candidates for president and vice president.
The search for new ways of vetting candidates seems particularly urgent because, for example, yesterday the presumed Republican nominee declared in an angry speech in Vandalia, Ohio, that if he loses on November 5 the nation will be washed in blood.
Trump opened his speech by praising those who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. He said some migrants are “not people.” Later he referred to them as “animals.”
After promising to place tariffs on cars manufactured abroad if he wins in November, he added, “Now, if I don’t get elected, it’s going to be a blood bath for the whole—that’s going to be the least of it. It’s going to be a blood bath for the country.”
Our once respectable democracy is shackled to Donald J. Trump, literally ball and chain. Why? Because our laissez-faire, helter-skelter presidential primary system—one that is nakedly devoid of checks on demagogues and authoritarians—makes it so.
That’s why reforming this system is Priority No. 1 for the United States in the third decade of the 21st century. And, one place to start is thoughtful observation of how No Labels is organizing its nomination process.
Here's what we know so far.
No Labels is not allowing extremist voters in media-saturated, poor-turnout primary elections in the Age of Disinformation to make the choice. Instead, as the party announced three days ago, it has created a committee called the Country Over Party Committee to aid in vetting potential nominees ahead of its virtual convention this spring.
When that committee recommends presidential and vice-presidential candidates, the selections will go to a convention of more than 800 delegates who will cast votes to make the final determinations.
In assessing the wisdom of this nomination system, remember what the history of democracy teaches. It is that incorporating checks and balances against the rise of demagogues and authoritarians to executive power is co-equal in importance with the will of the people in sustaining a democracy.
Take notice of No Labels’ two checks, not one—and certainly not zero, as in the cases of the Republican and Democratic parties.
Check No. 1 is the No Labels vetting committee composed of a dozen individuals who have vowed to select candidates on the basis of character, moderation, and willingness to compromise. The Country Over Party Committee is being led by the co-chairs of the organization, including former Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman, retired Navy Admiral Dennis Blair, and civil rights activist Benjamin F. Chavis Jr.
Check No. 2 is the up or down votes of the convention, comprised of more than 800 delegates from all fifty states who are bound by conscience rather than the Wild West outcomes of dysfunctional primary elections.
If such a nomination system had been in place in the Republican Party in 2016, the United States never would have suffered the presidency of Trump, the Jan. 6 insurrection, or the manifold other harms the authoritarian demagogue has inflicted upon upon our democracy.
Again, I am not personally advocating for the No Labels party. I am not asking you to like it, or approve of it, on a global level.
But let’s at least acknowledge that the presidential nominating systems of the Republican and Democratic parties are dysfunctional and perilous in the extreme.
Therefore, let’s keep our eyes open to reform ideas that hold promise of reinstating checks and balances against the rise of malefactors to the Oval Office who would ransack democracy itself in order to amass total power.
No Labels, perhaps unwittingly, offers us one model for nominating presidential candidates that is worthy of self-reflective consideration.
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Email me at eli.merritt@vanderbilt.edu
No Labels can afford to have a thorough vetting process, because its goal is to appear moderate while its funding sources’ objective is to strip away just enough votes for Trump to win. Call me cynical! However, if they end up with RFK Jr they will have just added a complete nut butter to the list of alternatives! Hardly an achievement or an endorsement of their process.