March 2010 April 2010 May 2010 June 2010 July 2010
August 2010
September 2010 October 2010
November 2010
December 2010
January 2011
February 2011 March 2011 April 2011 May 2011 June 2011 July 2011 August 2011 September 2011 October 2011 November 2011 December 2011 January 2012 February 2012 March 2012 April 2012 May 2012 June 2012 July 2012 August 2012 September 2012 October 2012 November 2012 December 2012 January 2013 February 2013 March 2013 April 2013 May 2013 June 2013 July 2013 August 2013 September 2013 October 2013 November 2013 December 2013 January 2014 February 2014 March 2014 April 2014 May 2014 June 2014 July 2014 August 2014 September 2014 October 2014 November 2014 December 2014 January 2015 February 2015 March 2015 April 2015 May 2015 June 2015 July 2015 August 2015 September 2015 October 2015 November 2015 December 2015 January 2016 February 2016 March 2016 April 2016 May 2016 June 2016 July 2016 August 2016 September 2016 October 2016 November 2016 December 2016 January 2017 February 2017 March 2017 April 2017 May 2017 June 2017 July 2017 August 2017 September 2017 October 2017 November 2017 December 2017 January 2018 February 2018 March 2018 April 2018 May 2018 June 2018 July 2018 August 2018 September 2018 October 2018 November 2018 December 2018 January 2019 February 2019 March 2019 April 2019 May 2019 June 2019 July 2019 August 2019 September 2019 October 2019 November 2019 December 2019 January 2020 February 2020 March 2020 April 2020 May 2020 June 2020 July 2020 August 2020 September 2020 October 2020 November 2020 December 2020 January 2021 February 2021 March 2021 April 2021 May 2021 June 2021 July 2021 August 2021 September 2021 October 2021 November 2021 December 2021 January 2022 February 2022 March 2022 April 2022 May 2022 June 2022 July 2022 August 2022 September 2022 October 2022 November 2022 December 2022 January 2023 February 2023 March 2023 April 2023 May 2023 June 2023 July 2023 August 2023 September 2023 October 2023 November 2023 December 2023 January 2024 February 2024 March 2024
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
29
30
31
News Every Day |

The Virtues of Smoke-Filled Rooms

The Virtues of Smoke-Filled Rooms

Stronger parties would give us better candidates.

Republican Triumvirate
Chairman of the Republican National Committee, Will H. Hays, with Warren G. Harding and Calvin Coolidge, Washington DC, 1920. (Photo by FPG/Keystone View Company/Archive Photos/Getty Images)

Doug Mastriano for Governor was a disaster for Pennsylvania. The Mastriano campaign raised shockingly little money, ran almost no advertising, and seemed to limit campaigning to events and social media posts geared toward those who were already supporters. Pennsylvania is an extremely purple swing state, and Mastriano came in bearing a far-right “extremist” reputation. He would have been a hard sell under the best of circumstances, but there was zero chance he was going to convince the Pennsylvania moderates and independents to vote for him when he didn’t even make the effort.

Those who voted for Mastriano in the primary had no reason to think he wouldn’t run a spirited campaign. One would expect that Mastriano would have used his grassroots support from the conservative, largely Christian base that elected him in order to fundraise, spread his message, and try to appeal to a wider voter population. But even if he had run a flawless campaign, nominating Doug Mastriano to run for governor in Pennsylvania was always going to be a serious mistake. It was one that could have been avoided, if political parties still played their traditional, strong-handed role in the candidate selection process.

The Pennsylvania GOP botched this one. At one point in early 2022, there were as many as 15 candidates seeking the Republican nomination for governor. When the primary was conducted in May, there were still nine candidates. This makes for a messy and confusing primary, where voters have such a crowded field from which to choose. This is hardly the ideal environment to pick a good candidate who can win a crucial statewide election. In February 2022, the Pennsylvania Republican State Committee met and made the unusual decision not to endorse a candidate in the primary. This failure of the party to act and help clear the field to create a navigable primary reveals at least two problems with the current state of political parties. 

First, there has been a complete change in the process by which a party selects its candidates. In the past, political parties had internal processes to select their candidates and there was no caucus or primary by popular vote. Candidates were selected by party elites in proverbial (and often literal) smoke-filled rooms. In the name of popular participation and the input of more voters, the process evolved into the modern primary election. Even as primaries emerged as the norm, political parties continued to put a thumb on the scales by exerting political pressure to push weak candidates out, directing donors toward particular candidates, and formally endorsing the party-preferred candidate.

There is a massive downside to the evolution of the modern primary system. There are many factors that ought to influence the selection of a candidate: substantive policy positions, ability to navigate the political process, personality, style. In the modern age, our primary elections consist of vicious attack ads, shallow stage debates, and quite a bit of pandering to the party base. It’s hardly a recipe to get the best overall candidate for a general election. 

Back to Mastriano. There was a nine-way primary election this past May. The candidates ranged from long-time politicians to businessmen who had never held major political office. But there were very few who truly appealed to the hardcore Trump base. In that climate, it was almost certain that moderate Republicans, as well as solid conservatives who thought Mastriano was simply a bad candidate or had no chance in the general election, would split their allegiances among several alternatives. From that moment in February where the Pennsylvania GOP eschewed the smoke-filled room and let the people choose freely from this confused melee of Republicans, the nomination of Doug Mastriano and eventual election of Democrat Josh Shapiro was almost a foregone conclusion. 

This leads to a second, more general point: political parties have largely lost their purpose. The biggest change was the massive overhaul of campaign finance law via legislation and court decisions in the early 2000s. In particular, the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002—commonly known as the McCain-Feingold Act—changed the game for political parties by preventing unlimited “soft money” contributions by big companies, labor unions, etc. This meant that political parties could no longer accept large donations that could be spent on particular candidates or campaigns. 

Around the same time the political parties lost much of their financial power, the Supreme Court issued a series of related campaign finance decisions—Citizens United v. FEC in 2010 followed closely by Speechnow.org v. FEC and McCutcheon v. FEC—paving the way for free speech protections for “Independent Expenditure Committees,” the now-infamous super PAC. 

Political parties could no longer collect unlimited contributions from mega-donors and pass that money along to the party-preferred candidates. At the same time, independent committees could form, collect unlimited contributions from those same mega-donors, and spend the money promoting particular candidates or messages—as long as the committee did not coordinate directly with the candidate. This took away the power of the political party to control campaigns and the selection of candidates, and gave much of that power to whoever had the money and desire to fill the void.

The smoke-filled room has its benefits. Those with exceptional gifts to understand the country and its issues, the appeals and drawbacks of certain candidates, and the way to get good policy results, should use those gifts to recruit and promote the best possible candidates. As long as those rooms contain the right cigars and the right people, there is a strong argument that this is preferable to simply allowing the masses to view endless campaign ads and then choose candidates for themselves. But if Republican lovers of democracy will not have the smoke-filled room, they should question why they have the Republican Party at all.

The post The Virtues of Smoke-Filled Rooms appeared first on The American Conservative.

Game News

Шапки женские на Wildberries — скидки от 398 руб. (на новые оттенки)

I was diagnosed with cancer aged 39… you are never too rich, too famous or too young, says Dr Philippa Kaye

Top 10 Love Affair Movies of the 2000s and 2010s

The 10 Intense New Action Movies on Netflix That Left Me on the Edge of My Seat!

Top 10 Emmanuelle Seigner Movies

Ria.city






Read also

I spent £100 on two abandoned suitcases at auction – I found so many used pants inside, but I know I’m going to cash in

76ers' Kelly Oubre Jr curses at refs, coach Nick Nurse gets heated after controversial no-call on final play

Chelsea in the hunt for 19-year-old wonder kid that Arsenal and Liverpool love

News, articles, comments, with a minute-by-minute update, now on Today24.pro

News Every Day

The 10 Intense New Action Movies on Netflix That Left Me on the Edge of My Seat!

Today24.pro — latest news 24/7. You can add your news instantly now — here


News Every Day

Top 5 Websites to Watch FREE Movies - TV Shows (No Sign up!)



Sports today


Новости тенниса
WTA

Россиянка покинула WTA-1000 из-за проблем со здоровьем



Спорт в России и мире
Москва

Отставка Кудашова и уход Гусева и Уила: кого «Динамо» рискует потерять после вылета из Кубка Гагарина



All sports news today





Sports in Russia today

Москва

Актера Свиридова госпитализировали из-за инфицирования после операции в Москве


Новости России

Game News

Пробный запуск God Wars: Cross Worlds — idle-RPG с богами и путешествиями во времени


Russian.city


Москва

Нажиться на Крокусе: теракт стал для аферистов поводом заработать


Губернаторы России
Внуково

Shot: рейс Turkish Airlines вернулся во Внуково из-за криков и танцев пассажира


Силовики нашли Telegram-чат, где вербовали боевиков для терактов в Москве и по России

Metaratings: "Спартак" может уволить Абаскаля по ходу сезона, клуб ищет тренера

Движение транспорта перекрыли на юго-востоке столицы из-за пожара в жилом доме

Собянин открыл новый путепровод на подъезде к аэропорту «Шереметьево»


Концерт группы «Пикник» в Петербурге начался с минуты молчания о жертвах теракта

Шапки женские вязаные на Wildberries, 2024 — новый цвет от 392 руб. (модель 466)

Умники, Linkin Park, поэты. 13 идей, куда сходить на этой неделе в Барнауле

Тимати посетил акцию в память о жертвах теракта в «Крокусе»


Российская теннисистка Калинская покинула WTA-1000 из-за проблем со здоровьем

Александрова обыграла первую ракетку мира на турнире WTA

Азаренко вышла в полуфинал турнира WTA-1000 в Майами

Теннисист Медведев вышел в полуфинал турнира в Майами, обыграв Харри



В России назвали топ самых благополучных регионов по итогам 2023 года

Заказать недорогой ремонт кухонной мебели в районе в Москве и Московской области

Выпуск ЦФА на платформе «Атомайз» поможет снизить нагрузку на экологию

Рынок вторичной недвижимости Крыма: цены растут, а спрос?


Продолжается регистрация на форум «Мы вместе.Спорт»

АИРР на Стартап-туре 2024

«Единая Россия»: Вопросы для «Диктанта Победы» составят ведущие историки

На Алтае подвели итоги работы центра одаренных детей за 2023 год


Мурашко: трое пострадавших в «Крокусе» в крайне тяжелом состоянии

Жители дома на Дмитровском шоссе узнали, что их дом – молельный

Психолог Корчагина посоветовала обсуждать с детьми постановки, чтобы привить любовь к театру

Спасители провели учения на газовой котельной в Балашихе



Путин в России и мире






Персональные новости Russian.city
Рэпер ST

Рэпер ST признался, что не смог написать песню о трагедии в "Крокусе"



News Every Day

The 10 Intense New Action Movies on Netflix That Left Me on the Edge of My Seat!




Friends of Today24

Музыкальные новости

Персональные новости