Like it or not, democracy works
Published 9:24 am Thursday, March 3, 2016
Democracy isn’t perfect, but it’s the best system out there.
And democracy has been at work, to the dismay of many. Donald Trump looks like he has a strangle-hold on the Republican nomination, and we can thank democracy for that.
Trump won several states on Super Tuesday, giving him 316 delegates of the 1,237 necessary. Ted Cruz has 226; Marco Rubio has 106. Whatever you think of Trump, and we don’t think much of him, he’s winning. This is how democracy works.
The thought of Trump on the ballot scares so-called “establishment” Republicans. The thought of Trump as president ought to scare everyone. We won’t bother listing his misdeeds, his anti-conservative positions or his many faults. If you care to know them, one only has to turn to any media outlet that covers his campaign.
Democracy can be unpredictable. Democracy can be maddening. But democracy works. Our country is the best proof of that. You can argue that our presidential elections are less democratic, thanks to the Electoral College. But the primaries are relatively cut and dry — people vote for a candidate and the winning candidate gets delegates (for the most part).
As that process has played out, voters time and again have chosen Trump over more electable and more presidential candidates. The people of this great nation are obviously fed up with politicians and the kind of people we generally view as being presidential.
The people have so far decided that a billionaire from New York is the best person to lead our country. If Trump ends up on the ballot opposite Hillary Clinton, it will be a good day for 1-percenters and Wall Street.
But all is not lost. There are more primary elections to be held with hundreds of delegates up for grabs. Mississippi will get its chance to vote Tuesday.
We can only wait and see how our tried and true democratic process plays out. If it’s Trump left standing at the end, we’ll have democracy to thank. It’s mostly gotten it right 44 times, we’ll see if it can get it right with No. 45.