Do elections really have consequences?

By Mark Faust
HCP columnist
 
The phrase “We the People” is the heart of the American government. It is the simplest, purest way to describe the foundation of the United States. Instead of having one person or one group of people rule over its citizens, America is governed by the consent of the people. In order for a nation to truly be governed its people, elections are essential. Over the past few months, we have heard that elections have consequences and that democracy is at stake. If America is to survive, the next few months will be critical.

When the United States was formed 248 years ago, political parties did not exist. The Founders envisioned a political system where the people would vote for the most qualified candidate. That decision would be solely that of the individual. It would have nothing to do with a political party. 

Unfortunately, differences in the direction of the country led to the creation political parties. For most of the 1800s, the political party bigwigs chose their presidential candidate to run against the other party’s candidate in the national election. The people’s voice was only partially heard because they had no voice in who the candidates were. 

In the early 1900s, a movement to give power back to the people led to the creation of the primary system. Primary elections allowed the people of a political party to have an election within their own party. In practice, the candidates from the Republican Party would run against other Republicans and Republican voters would choose one of them in a primary election. Democrats would do the same. In theory, the political power would be returned to the “We the People.”

We are currently in the middle of a presidential election, and the candidates have been (unofficially) chosen. The primary system for the upcoming election has concluded. Over 14 million Democrat voters cast their ballots for Joe Biden. The rest of the Democrat candidates garnered over 1 million votes combined. Nearly 17 million Republicans voted for Donald Trump, with the rest of the Republican candidates gathering over 4 million combined votes. In total, 87% of Democrats voted for Joe Biden and 76% of Republicans voted for Donald Trump.

If the voice of the people is heard, Biden and Trump will be officially nominated by their respective parties for the national election in November. However, after last Thursday’s debate, that is a big “IF.” 

President Biden performed poorly in the debate, and many high-ranking Democrats and media members are calling for Biden to step down as a candidate. In that 90-minute debate, Biden looked old, confused, and overwhelmed, leaving many within his own party to conclude that he cannot lead the country for the next four years.

For the past four years, everyone on the Left side of the political spectrum has told us that Biden was fit to be president. The Democrat political pundits have said over and over that voting for Biden was the only way to save democracy in America. Hollywood personalities have said that he was “sharp as a tack.” 

The media has pushed all kinds of stories promoting Biden and his accomplishments. Top security officials told us that Hunter’s laptop was Russian disinformation. Two weeks ago, Democrats said that any video of Biden mental and physical gaffes were “cheap fakes.” And just last week, top economists told us that electing Trump would lead to higher inflation. Based on this information, it is more than reasonable to see why 87% of Democrats voted for Biden in the primary.

If the United States is truly a nation based on concept of “We the People,” the Democrat Party must nominate Joe Biden as their Presidential candidate. Regardless of what one currently thinks of Biden’s mental and physical state, the election system that is in place requires that he is the Democrat Party nominee. 

When 87% of Democrats cast their ballot for Biden in the primaries, they believed that he was fit to be president. His performance at one debate should not override the votes of 14 million Democrat voters. If Biden is replaced with another candidate, the will of the people goes away and America becomes a nation ruled by elites.

What if the debate accurately portrayed Biden’s mental fitness and he truly is incapable of serving as president? Wouldn’t it be foolish to continue to have him run for president if he can not do the job? If that is the case, he needs to be removed immediately and Kamala Harris, the current vice president, should be installed as president. The 25th Amendment allows that to happen, thus falling under the legal confines of our political system. If the Democrat Party does anything other than nominate Biden or Harris, then elections no longer have consequences.

The whole point of the primary voting system is to give more political power to the people by allowing them to choose the candidates. If the Democrat Party establishment replaces Biden as their candidate, the Democrat voters would be rendered irrelevant. If that happens, what’s the point in having primaries? 

And this is more than a Democrat Party issue. The Republican Party has chosen a convicted felon as their candidate. The Republican Party should have to live with the candidate that their voters chose in the primary. Neither political party should have the power to overrule their voters just because they don’t think that candidate can win the national election.

There is one last thing to consider. The presidential primaries begin in January and ran through early June. One could make a reasonable argument that says 6 months is too long to hold primaries. A candidate could have a health issue or a criminal conviction after a state holds their primary and replacing that person would be reasonable. If that is the case, then make all the primaries one day. And more importantly, early voting would also need to end. Currently, 46 states allow early voting. Some states allow voting 46 days before the actual election, with the average being 27 days before the election.

Joe Biden and Donald Trump must be the candidates for president in the November election. The American people have chosen these two candidates. If elections do have consequences and democracy is at stake, then the will of the people must be heard. Anything short of that would violate the concept of “We the People.”

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