Steve is Professor Emeritus of Marketing, University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls
On Sept. 18, 1787, the last day of the U.S. Constitutional Convention, James McHenry (1753-1816), a Maryland delegate, asked Benjamin Franklin, “well Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?” Franklin’s reply “a republic, if you can keep it,” is profound in not only does our democracy depend upon the supreme power of its residents and their elected representatives, but for America to survive it depends upon its citizens to become actively involved in the selection of its elected delegates.
So, what’s the problem? The Pew Research Center reports America’s voting turnout ranks an “underwhelming” 31st out of 50 countries who exhibit solid democratic traditions. While the 2020 presidential election had the highest voter turnout of the 21st century (66.7%), it’s sad that one out of every three people you meet on the street didn’t partake in our attempt to keep a republic.
In the past six general elections (2000-2020), the average turnout rate of registered voters for primary elections was 27%, while the average turnout rate for general elections was slightly over 60%. This means more than half (55%) of general election voters did not vote in primary elections. For midterm primary elections, it’s worse: about 80% of eligible voters do not partake in primary elections.
What’s the significance of this data? Low voter participation in caucus-primary elections means that a smaller subset of voters – most likely far left-wing crazies and far right-wing wackos – hoodwinked by candidate disinformation, misinformation, far-fetched promises, propaganda and/or sinister political agendas may be playing an over proportionate role in determining the final candidates.
A minority of the minority is selecting our political candidates.
Let’s face it. We may be electing self-centered, party-before-the-people and politicians allegiant to their financial supporters simply because we’re not active – like Benjamin Franklin feared – in all elections. We only have ourselves to blame if we’re represented by less-than-desirable, narcissistic, divisive, rude, opponent bashing, retribution-oriented, racist, anti-bipartisan, anti-trade, anti-democracy, anti-constitution and pro-authoritarian delegates.
Let’s review a couple caucus-primary election examples:
Joe Biden ran for president three different times and didn’t win his first caucus-primary election until Feb. 28, 2020 when he defeated Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders in South Carolina. Biden was one of 22 candidates and has been a politician since 1971. Donald Trump, who has changed party affiliation five times, was a presidential candidate in 2000 with the Reform Party. A 2020 study (Journal of Politics) revealed voters had the most difficulty assessing the ideology of Trump in the 2016 election out of all presidential candidates since 1972 and all contemporary legislators. Trump was one of 17 candidates seeking the GOP presidential nomination.
Was Mr. Biden and/or Mr. Trump the best candidate for their respective party or the winner only because a small subset of rabid fanatical Democrats or rabid extremist Republicans voted, while the majority of D and R voters didn’t partake in the caucus-primary election?
Americans aren’t taking the caucus-primary and general election process seriously.
What can you do to help America remain a democracy and select the best candidates? Be proactive. Go to www.270towin.com’s “2024 presidential election calendar” to find out the precise date of your caucus-primary election and vote. Next, mark your calendar to also vote on Nov. 5, 2024.
Officials within your political party of preference as well as your county and state auditor can assist with any voting inquiry.
The first of 15 caucus and 53 primary elections begins on Jan. 15. Heed the words of Thomas Jefferson: “We do not have government by the majority. We have government by the majority who participate.” Be in the majority by voting in the caucus-primary and general elections or don’t complain about the religious, cultural and political zealot elected politicians we must endure for another two to four years who purposely could be seeking office to change America from a republic to a monarchy.
Sources:
1) Voter turnout rate in the presidential election in the United States as of December 7, 2020, by state, www.statista.com, Statista, Dec, 7, 2020
2) Drew Desilver, Turnout soared in 2020 as nearly two-thirds of eligible U.S. voters cast ballots for President, Pew Research Center, Jan. 28, 2021
3) Drew Desilver, Turnout in U.S. has soared in recent elections but by some measures still trails that of many other countries, Pew Research Center, Nov. 1, 2022
4) Turnout in primaries vs. general elections since 2000, States United Action, July 28, 2022 (Press Release)
5) 2022 primary turnout, Bipartisan Policy Center (Press Release)
6) Joshua Ferror and Michael Thorning, 2022 primary turnout: Trends and lessons for boosting participation, Bipartisan Policy Center, March, 2023
7) Richard R. Beeman, Perspectives on the constitution: A republic, if you can keep it, National Constitution Center, https://www.constitution center.org, 2023
8) Carl Bialik, How the Republican field dwindled from 17to Donald Trump, FiveThirtyEight, May 5, 2016
9) Asma Khalid and Deirdre Walsh, Very much alive: Biden projected to win South Carolina, National Public Radio, Feb. 29, 2020
10) Gregory Eady and Peter Loewen, Measuring public uncertainty about candidate ideology: An application to US presidential elections, The Journal of Politics, July 28, 2020
11) Biography.com Editors, Donald Trump, Biography, March 31, 2023
12) Biography.com Editors, Joe Biden, Biography, April 25, 2023
Disclosure: Steve is a non-paid freelance opinion editor and guest columnist contributor (circa 2013) to 172 newspapers in 32 states who receives no remuneration, funding or endorsement from any for-profit business, not-for-profit organization, political action committee or political party.
A golden tray sits on the Resolute Desk as President Donald Trump speaks during an announcement on American nuclear innovation in the Oval Office at the White House on July 24, 2026, in Washington, D.C. Trump is signing multiple executive orders targeting the nuclear energy sector and easing rules for new reactors and nuclear fuel supply chains.
Trump’s hubris rivals the fallen heroes of ancient Greek mythology
In January, the New York Times asked President Donald Trump if there were any limits on his global powers.
“Yeah,” the president responded, “there is one thing. My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me.”
That was eight months ago, but fortunately Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster adaptation of “The Odyssey” has made ancient Greek literature newly relevant. Before that window closes, I’d like to talk about hubris.
Today, the term mostly means excessive pride or arrogance. That’s part of what the Greeks meant by it too, but the meaning was a bit richer and more specific. Hubris was an insolent or outrageous act that offended the gods, often because the transgressor was claiming abilities or authorities that solely belonged to supreme beings.
Nolan renamed and slightly modified the concept of xenia for the film, calling it “Zeus’ law.” In the director’s telling, mortals should follow the rules laid out by the gods, specifically the requirement to treat strangers with respect lest they be gods in disguise.
In a sense, hubris is the opposite, or at least the rejection, of xenia. The hubris of the suitors, and at times Odysseus himself, invites punishment by the gods and their mortal instruments.
Which brings me back to Donald Trump. His claim that there are no constraints on his personal power to dictate events on the global stage was one of the greatest expressions of hubris ever uttered by a political leader.
Trump’s claim was obviously false when he made it.
He vowed that he could end the Russia-Ukraine war in 24 hours. He’s proved powerless to make that happen. If he had divine powers to work his will, why would he have balked at implementing his tariffs so often that Wall Street adopted the “TACO trade” term for his deals? “TACO” stands for “Trump always chickens out.”
And why would Trump have made so many embarrassing concessions to China — from rescinding tariffs on Chinese goods to allowing them to buy crucial and incredibly valuable computer chips?
But Trump saw his success at capturing Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro as proof of his ability to launch missiles to the same effect as Zeus’ lightning bolts. Trump believed he was the most powerful man who ever lived.
This is no exaggeration. In March, when the Iran invasion seemed successful, Trump gave a document penned by“Presidential Historian David King” to New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan purporting to prove that Trump was “the most powerful person to have EVER walked this planet.” King was, in fact, a businessman and occasional caddy for legendary golfer Gary Player.
King compared Trump favorably to many of history’s most powerful, and often heinous, figures: Alexander the Great, Attila the Hun, William the Conqueror, Napoleon Bonaparte, Joseph Stalin, Genghis Khan, Mao Tse Tung, Adolf Hitler and Vladimir Lenin. Many of these men thought they were the most powerful person in the world, too. And many were defeated precisely because they believed it.
At least Napoleon and Hitler had a string of truly impressive victories before they learned the folly of hubris. The limits on Trump’s power have been exposed by far less august forces than the combined might of the allies in World War II or the fearsome Russian winter.
Iran is a comparatively middling power. But the regime’s ability to absorb punishment while imposing its will on the Strait of Hormuz has proved to be a greater constraint on Trump’s power than his morality or mind. We should note that, at least rhetorically, his morality has not proved much of a constraint. He has repeatedly promised to destroy Iranian “civilization” if the regime refuses to capitulate.
But they haven’t — and won’t anytime soon — because the regime’s tolerance for pain far outstrips Trump’s. The combined fear of skyrocketing oil prices, outrage of Gulf state potentates, diminishing weapon supplies and domestic unpopularity is doing the work that international law, congressional oversight and the collective opinion of foreign policy experts can’t or won’t do.
If I considered Trump more heroic than reason and facts could allow, I would say his Sisyphean predicament has the whiff of Greek tragedy to it. Trump is vexed by the fact that the Iranians won’t honor deals or ratify his countless premature claims of victory — giving new meaning to his vow that his presidency would make people tired of winning. It’s almost like they’re out-Trumping Trump.
Things might have gone better if he’d heeded that great Greek tragedian Sophocles: “For Zeus utterly abhors the boasts of a proud tongue.”
____
Jonah Goldberg is editor-in-chief of The Dispatch and the host of The Remnant podcast. His Twitter handle is @JonahDispatch.