The Democrats claim to fight for the heart of American democracy. But the party gives short shrift to democracy within its own fold. The upcoming presidential election and the two that precede it establish this conclusively.
Joe Biden faced Donald Trump in the first presidential debate in late June. His performance left people questioning the president’s mental acuity. Democrats panicked that he would not only lose to Trump but hurt them in Congress, too. The White House variously said that he just had “a bad day”, “a cold”, a “jet lag” and would resume his campaigning soon.
The knives were out for Biden, however. Leading the palace coup were Representative Nancy Pelosi, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, former President Barack Obama and the megadonors.
“Nancy made clear that they could do this the easy way or the hard way,” an insider told Politico. The “easy way” for Biden was to end his r-election bid. “She gave them three weeks of the easy way.” He seemed nonchalant.
On Sunday, July 21, Obama called Biden after breakfast to inform him of the “hard way.” “Here’s the deal. We have Kamala’s approval to invoke the 25th Amendment (to the US Constitution),” he told Biden, according to veteran investigative journalist Seymour Hersh. The clause allows the president to be replaced by the vice president, in this case Kamala Harris, if the latter and others deem him unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.
Simply put, Obama threatened Biden with sacking if he did not bow out of the race. Not sure of Harris’ prospects, Obama advised Biden against endorsing her and suggested that the delegates elect the candidate in “a mini primary” at August’s Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago. Primaries aim to pick the best person capable of taking on the opposition.
Biden called it quits and swiftly endorsed Harris that same day. He was unfit to rerun for presidency, but could steer the ship of state for another six months! One phone call from Obama negated the will of 14 million primary voters and nearly 4,000 delegates pledged to Biden.
Kamala Harris had entered no primary and won no delegates. Earlier, the DNC had shut out Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Minnesota Representative Dean Phillips from challenging Biden in the primaries. New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd, a Democrat herself, pulled no punches in calling Biden’s defenestration what it was: “a coup.”
In 2020, Democrats somewhat mysteriously crowned Biden as their presidential nominee. He faced humbling setbacks during the early primaries, finishing fourth in Iowa, fifth in New Hampshire, and second in Nevada.
Ahead of the crucial South Carolina primary, Representative James Clyburn, the highest-ranking African-American in Congress and a key political figure in the state, endorsed him. Biden registered his first victory, a resounding one.
On the eve of Super Tuesday (03 March 2020), when 15 states and territories held their primaries, three Democrats — Amy Klobuchar, Pete Buttigieg and Tom Steyer — suddenly withdrew from the race. Soon afterward, Elizabeth Warren and Michael Bloomberg followed suit.
The contest essentially narrowed to a race between moderate Biden and progressive Bernie Sanders. Fearful that Sanders would lose by a landslide if nominated, they quickly retreated and rallied around Biden. The goal was to stop the fractious infighting and ensure Sanders’ defeat in the primaries. Obama approved of this move.
Obama nudged Klobuchar and Buttigieg into endorsing Biden. To “accelerate the endgame” of bringing primaries to an early close, Obama “at least had four long conversations” with Sanders before the Vermont senator dropped his bid and backed Biden. Obama did “thumb the scale” for his “friend.”
The COVID-19 pandemic turned the world upside down, completely upending campaign and voting procedures. While campaigns moved to the virtual world with candidates canvassing from their homes, polling adopted mass mail-in ballots. Having “fortified” the election, as TIME magazine essayist Molly Ball put it, Biden defeated Trump in November.
Nothing comes close to the 2016 Democratic primaries though. Obama persuaded his Vice President Biden to stay out of the fray for his former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. “The President was not encouraging,” Biden later wrote in his memoir.
Clinton became the first female to lead a major party ticket. She shattered one glass ceiling; only one remained, being elected president. In her quest for the highest office, she manipulated rules at will.
DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz signed a pact with her campaign to keep the party financially afloat, ceding control of its operations. The agreement let Clinton exercise her hold over party’s finances, strategy, and all the money raised.
“Her campaign had the right of refusal of who would be the party communications director, and it would make final decisions on all the other staff,” wrote DNC interim chair Donna Brazile in her book Hacks.
“A candidate usually begins to wield more influence over the party only after being nominated. Not in Clinton’s case! She held sway over the DNC apparatus just four months after announcing her candidacy and nearly a year ahead of clinching the nomination. “…the agreement was not illegal, but it sure looked unethical,” Brazile wrote.
WikiLeaks exposed how Wasserman Schultz had sharply disparaged Sanders, Clinton’s challenger, and his campaign manager Jeff Weaver, despite her obligation to remain neutral during the primaries. Calling Weaver a “damn liar” and an “ASS,” she said the senator has “never been a member of the Democratic Party and does not know what we do.”
Wasserman Schultz was forced to resign. Brazile, an old party hand and longtime Clinton ally, replaced her. Brazile, for her part, lost her gig as contributor after WikiLeaks revealed that she had also leaked questions to Hillary’s campaign ahead of a CNN debate and a town hall during the primary.
Two of Clinton’s rivals, Sanders and Warren, accused the DNC of rigging the primary in her favour. Clinton campaign sponsored the infamous Steele Dossier, an ‘opposition research’ that falsely painted Trump as Putin’s puppet. She outspent Trump two-to-one, still lost to him, a political greenhorn.
All this in a party that swears by Democracy™, chides its opponents at home for undermining it, and slams other countries for democratic backsliding. Oh, the irony!
