Tyranny of the Minority: Voting in the Primary, or Maybe Not

My candidate Mayor Pete dropped out yesterday, as we all know. I voted for him a week or so ago, but reluctantly predicted I would probably wind up voting for an old white guy. At least that prediction seems to still be on track. Looks like my Mayor Pete vote went down in flames.

A disgruntled primary voter who hasn't voted yet (actual photo of real person)

Once again, the fine people of the states of IA, NH, NV and SC got to eliminate everyone else's choice before their state officially votes. California votes tomorrow, on Dipstick Tuesday, so I almost got to vote for someone still in the race. In essence, those folks led me to vote for a ghost and thus exert zero influence. Guess that teaches me a lesson for voting early.

Anyway, I think I recall an analysis that said each primary vote in IA and NH is worth about 8-10 primary votes in other states. It's a form of tyranny of the minority. Other folks have made the same observation on the minority tyranny phenomenon in recent years. Between (1) various constitutional rots, e.g., in the form of the self-described Grim Reaper, Moscow Mitch McConnell,[1] (2) a recent sharp electoral college tilt in favor of the minority Trump Party, and (3) the IA, NH, NV and SC primaries, there are plenty of reasons to feel like one is being abused by a minority if one doesn't like the way things are going.

Of course, if one likes all of this, it is good times in MAGA!! land. LOCK HER UP!, LOCK HER UP!, LOCK HER UP!

I suppose it is out of bounds to ask for a different order of voting in the primaries, maybe a regional one that lets one of 5 or 6 regions or clusters of states go first on a rotating basis. Or, maybe there could a rotating batch of 3-4 states that go first, e.g., one large population state a middle pop state and 1-2 pipsqueaks. Yeah, I know. The pipsqueaks would howl in protest. Well what the heck. People in all other states are ignored now, so why not a few pipsqueak states after all the decades of IA, NH, NV and SC telling all of us what they want. I do not care what IA, NH, NV and SC want. I care what I want.

One thing for sure, I'll be writing a position paper for my little wannabe third party recommending that the party break completely free from official democratic and republican voting dates and set its primary vote date a few days or maybe a week before the nutty Iowa caucuses.


Footnote:
1. As of a couple of weeks ago, Moscow Mitch had 365 bills the House passed sitting in his in-box waiting to be shredded. Grim Reaper Mitch blithely comments, "We're not going to pass those." Ah, the wonder of politics. Trump and the Trump Party like to refer to the democrats as do nothings. I guess that shredding bills from the House constitutes doing something in the eyes of Trumplandia. We live in strange, constitutionally rotted, hypocrisy- and corruption-tinged times. If things keep going like this, these fine times are likely to morph into a constitutionally crisis-riddled time of the liar-kleptocrat-tyrant. That will make these tyranny of the minority times look like a golden age of freedom and semi-honest governance.

A disgruntled dog, upset at the tyranny of the minority