We Should Have Real Primaries Every Election and Support the Winner
The way we’re going about this election, on both sides, is pretty dumb.
The establishments of both parties are, to varying degrees, demanding unquestioned loyalty to their major candidates—Donald Trump on one side and our sitting President, Joe Biden, on the other.
Any Republican who questions whether or not Donald Trump is the right person going forward is essentially cast out of the party and Democrats who share their concerns about Biden are criticized for caving to right-wing talking points about his age. (This is even though, objectively speaking, neither candidate appears to be in their intellectual and physical prime.)
This setup made the primaries of both parties a foregone conclusion. I’m not sure what the GOP could have done to change their outcome. Chris Christie tried to present his case against Trump, but no one actually wanted to hear it. Perhaps had the Republican party done this eight years ago and not gotten on board the Trump train, there would still be anyone left in the voting pool who cared for that message, but it was all too little too late.
On the Democratic side, the only person who could have changed things is Joe Biden himself. I’m not saying he should have stepped aside. While I do have concerns about his age going forward, I’ve actually found him to be quite capable up to this point. I’d even go as far as to say that there’s a strong case to be made that he is the best president of my lifetime. His track record of accomplishment is real—and impressive in the context of Congressional deadlock and political division. We’re investing in resilient infrastructure at a level never seen before. Our economy is outperforming other nations. Inflation has been reigned in to a large extent.
I also find him to be pretty sharp and quick on his feet in interviews and press conferences—more so than I think I would be. Sure, he misspeaks every now and then—but I don’t honestly think Joe Biden confuses Egypt and Mexico other than by accidentally swapping out their leader’s names. I think he probably knows more about those two countries, our relationship with them, and the history behind that on his worst day than Trump would be able to remember if he had a lifetime to study it.
But that doesn’t mean he would be my pick in an actual open primary. What I wish he would have done, as the leader of the party, is to say, “A true democracy gives people real choices. I’m proud of my record and plan to run on it, but I’ve also encouraged those who were otherwise planning runs in 2028, some of whom are currently in my cabinet, to join me in a discussion of ideas in a real primary—and I’ll support whoever wins.”
What an amazing show of professionalism and selflessness that would have produced. Wouldn’t a real debate between Biden, Harris, Buttigieg, and Gavin Newsom among others been a sight to see—a group of passionate, competent public service all presenting their vision for the future. I think it would have inspired people to see politicians respecting each other while offering alternative visions.
“Mr. President, you have had an excellent career and been a dedicated public servant for a long time—and your presidential accomplishments are unmatched, and it’s been an honor to serve in your cabinet, but I believe I’m ready to take that next step and I think I can best see through and defend what we’ve done on climate from the place where the buck stops, so to speak—from the Oval Office.”
I’m pretty sure Pete Buttigieg can strike the right tone here and I trust that Gavin Newsom could do the same. I could see Newsom making the argument that, in the spirit of Joe Biden’s desire for bi-partisanship, a president who wasn’t a lame duck had a better chance of bringing the other party to the table. You don’t need to say anything about anyone’s age to make that case—that the Democrats would be better served running someone who wasn’t term-limited against Trump, who would be as well.
I think it would be amazing and would provide a stark contrast to the circus of that has become the Republican Party—and I think it would be a great precedent for other elections as well. We should always do this—having incumbents encourage and welcome healthy competition of ideas, as long as everyone supports the winner in the end. This happened with Biden and Bernie Sanders—with Biden ultimately letting Sanders push him to the left on some issues as the new White House set policy after graciously hearing him out in the debates.
We can have our differences, and then come together to fight against another party whose values are opposed to ours, even if we have internal differences on the margins.
Take the NYC Mayoral Race, for example. It’s no big secret that potential candidates are lining up for the day if the other shoe drops on the Eric Adams campaign contribution investigation. If it doesn’t, I doubt these folks will show up to primary him—but I wish they would. I think Adams has fallen far short of what is needed in NYC at this time. He has completely dropped the ball as an operator in terms of dealing with the migrant crisis. He has failed to adequately address the cost housing and his approaches to crime feel dated and overly simplistic. If you’re not going to create housing stability, economic opportunity, and address the gaps in our various support systems, including mental health, then adding more cops isn’t really going to have much of an impact on the cycles of criminal activity.
These efforts require resourcefulness, creativity, and a world-class ability to execute at a large scale—something I’d like to see other people make the case that they can do in a real Democratic primary. The idea that none of these potential candidates-in-waiting would show up to primary him if he served out his full term is a real letdown. It would do a disservice to NYC residents to allow a forgone conclusion and not force him to compete again.
The biggest issue in this conversation is money. Because we have so much money in politics and it’s very expensive to run a campaign, potential candidates are hesitant to mount an ill-fated primary challenge to an incumbent. That’s why I’m hopeful we might see this in NYC if nothing else, given the way NYC’s matching donations work, because you can actually get a decent-sized budget if you do the work to get enough signatures. Money also wouldn’t be as much of a problem if incumbents welcomed the competition instead of trying to crowd others out or ostracize those who present alternative paths.
There’s no reason why we can’t have real debates and real choices, and then once someone is chosen, support them in the general election. That’s how I feel about Joe Biden. I think his character, empathy, and desire to serve are unmatched.
At the same time, I have enough criticisms about how he’s handled the Middle East situation and a few other things that I’m to his left on to wish I had a choice to support someone else in the primary. Still, I’d be ready and willing to fight like hell for him in a general election if he won the primary—and enthusiastically so, given the alternative.
