The Democratic Presidential Primary Needs the Democratic Party
Trump’s win taught us that weaker parties can allow demagogues into office
For anyone concerned about democratic norms and the rule of law, the 2016 election offered a clear lesson: Parties need to exercise more control over candidate selection. In this era of high partisanship, the official party nomination puts any candidate within striking distance of the presidency. This great power thus carries a profound responsibility: to deny the party endorsement to would-be demagogues. So why are Democrats reducing the role of party elites in the primary process this time around?
The changes Democrats have made to the nomination process were prompted by Hillary Clinton’s win over Bernie Sanders in the 2016 Democratic primary. That victory generated accusations that her campaign was coordinating with the Democratic National Committee to rig the nomination contest. Wary of such charges, the party has since scaled back its influence over the primary process. First, so-called superdelegates — party leaders and elected officials — were stripped of their power to decide a closely contested nomination on the first ballot at the party convention. These elites had previously played an important role in the nominating process; though they typically supported the candidate who won…
