They tell us that Tuesday is great, but it doesn't seem like it, does it?
With 16 states and one territory holding primaries at the same time, there should have been drama surrounding the night. But that would have taken bravery. The party leaders opted for security in the family.
opinion columnist
LZ Granderson
LZ Granderson writes about culture, politics, sports, and living life in America.
For years, polls have consistently shown that America does not want a rematch between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. However, the reason the primaries don't seem inspiring is that we have continued to move in that direction anyway.
No Democrat seriously wanted to challenge Biden in the primary. Very few influential Republicans wanted to risk it all against Trump; Only one plausible contender, Nikki Haley, has made it this far. And so, instead of a Super Tuesday revolving around political issues, relationships with voters, or whatever else politics should be about, the dominant conversations this primary season revolve around accusations and age. .
In other words: it's about them.
We needed Super Tuesday to be about us.
California was hit by a snowstorm that left thousands of people without power. Texas is in the midst of the largest wildfire in the state's history. However, instead of climate change policies, we are discussing whether Trump could kill his political rivals without punishment. If that sounds like something Russian dictator Vladimir Putin would do, then you understand why these elections are so important. And yet, the biggest day of the primary season feels more like the day after Christmas.
The 22nd Amendment, which limits a president to two terms, was not ratified until 1951. That meant George Washington was not required to leave the presidency. After the Revolutionary War and the Constitution was established, many expected him to remain indefinitely. Washington decided not to do it, for the good of the country. There was never a chance for Trump to do anything for the good of the country: although he faces jail, he has a well-established record of putting his needs before the country, so it's no surprise that he wants to run for president again. .
However, at one point I was hopeful that President Biden, who said the Charlottesville white supremacist rally in 2017 inspired him to run, would have gone the Washington route and announced he would not run again. That would have been a way to defend the United States. To help the country regain its balance.
Imagine if he had stepped aside so the next generation of leaders could flourish and fight through a competitive primary season. Instead of Super Tuesday 2024 being defined by issues related to Biden's health and his ability to serve out his term, it could have been one in which voters had a chance to decide the direction of the party. That appears to have been pushed back to 2028. That's a long time to wait for the future.
Super Tuesday became commonplace in 1988, in part because Walter Mondale had been defeated by Ronald Reagan in 1984 and Southern Democrats wanted a greater say in the primaries, to balance the influence of early independent races with a pool of votes. in the primaries. the same day.
Democratic Party leaders were not immediately convinced; they put in Massachusetts' own Michael Dukakis in 1988, who was then beaten by George HW Bush.
What the consecutive beatings represented were growing pains. Finally, in 1992, Super Tuesday fulfilled its promise, when Bill Clinton emerged victorious – after a rocky start in Iowa and New Hampshire – by learning to craft a coalition-building message. This is how he gained the support of black voters and the LGBTQ+ community. This is how the white working class was also won over. The same was true for Barack Obama, whose primaries with Hillary Clinton produced vigorous debates over foreign and domestic policy that led to their Super Tuesday showdown.
Voters in the Democratic primaries had a say that year over what they wanted the nation to be like. Strict control by timid parties undermines the entire democracy of the democratic process.
Washington warned the nation about political parties because he foresaw exactly what we have become.
Now many of us think of the White House as a kind of trophy that must be claimed by one of the two teams every four years. In reality, the parties spoon-feed us. Name recognition is more important than it should be and competition less than it should be.
Partisanship has led us to think in terms of vengeance and vengeance. As a result, instead of November being a chance for a new beginning, we only hope that democracy survives. The challenges we face as a nation are many, and yet here we are spending Super Tuesday talking about how energetic Biden is and whether Trump's name should even be on the ballot.
We had the opportunity to make this day about us.
Maybe next time.
