“The great constitutional corrective in the hands of the people against usurpation of power, or corruption by their agents is the right of suffrage; and this when used with calmness and deliberation will prove strong enough.” – Andrew Jackson
In 2024, the Idaho Republican Party will hold a caucus to determine its party representatives for the 2024 election. This was necessary to remedy missteps on the part of the Idaho political class in failing to institute a mechanism for a 2024 primary. This has been well covered elsewhere, but what does that mean for Idaho Republican voters? A golden opportunity to see our Republic in action.
What is a caucus, and why is that preferential instead of a primary? A caucus is a community gathering where party members meet in their local neighborhoods to discuss their desires and concerns for the community and then nominate representatives to go and speak on their behalf at the party level. This is opposed to a primary where voters cast a vote directly for party representatives. Seven US states and territories hold a nominating caucus, including our neighbors to the east in Wyoming. Still, other states like Utah hold a caucus to select delegates to represent their primary outcome at the state and national conventions.
What advantage does a caucus hold over a primary? A caucus is hyper-local and largely removes the influence that money has on the political process. In a primary, it is often the candidate with the most money and, thus, airtime and name recognition that emerges victorious. A primary is easily bought with empty platitudes, favorable press, and deep pockets. The political class prefers primaries over caucuses. Buying exposure for one primary is much easier than buying hundreds of neighborhood caucuses where debate and deliberation take place.
As a precinct chair for the Utah Republican Party, I had frequent conversations with other Utah politicos, and one such conversation was with a national committeewoman. These are people selected by the party to go to Washington, DC, and represent the state party at the national level. In this particular conversation, the national committeewoman recounted how the Republican National Committee sent high-powered lawyers to Utah in the year 2000 to strong-arm the state party into abandoning their caucus in place of a primary to ensure George W. Bush’s party nomination. Washington, DC, desires to distance voters from their representatives so that representatives are beholden to donors and not voters.
In Article IV, Section IV of the US Constitution, the architects of our government guaranteed a Republican form of government. This is as opposed to a Democracy. In a Republic, we choose representatives to speak on our behalf based on our localities. This keeps representation as close to the voters as possible. Consider whether it is easier to converse with your state or US representatives. A government that rules from below and is hyperlocal is how the system was designed.
In a Democracy, the public votes directly on elected officials without debate and deliberation and with little interaction with delegated representation. Having been students of history, the architects of our system of government understood that Democracies meet swift ends because those who promise the most from public coffers can buy the most votes. Democratic systems such as primaries discourage community cooperation and separate voters from their representatives by indebting representatives to the donor class.
Instituting a caucus was the contingency plan of the Idaho Republican Party when the old guard of the Idaho legislature attempted to move our primary from March to May. It was sold as a cost savings measure, but it is my opinion that they did this so that Idaho’s influence might wane in national nominating circles by moving Idaho to the back of the line in the primary season and allowing the corporate press to elevate the presidential candidate of choice of the old guard. This move to protect the influence of the old political guard is displayed in the push for schemes like open primaries and ranked-choice voting by former Governor Butch Otter and Jim Jones. As their influence in conservative politics wanes, they latch onto subversive schemes that extend their grip on power.
I penned a column in January of this year regarding the debate over the US House of Representatives Speaker. I argued that a lack of debate and deliberation is largely responsible for the poor direction of our nation. I challenged Idahoans to embrace debate so that we might course correct and arrive at the best possible outcomes. Next year, we have a prime opportunity to meet and break the proverbial civic bread and take a positive step toward restoring our community and nation’s direction. Let’s not waste it.
Photo by Zac Gudakov on Unsplash
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