(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .



The power of primaries [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2025-04-23

I’ve been too busy to write over the past couple of weeks. Often too busy to check in for more than the headlines and rarely on more than my phone (which is purposely NOT logged into my account so as to not distract me at work). So I’ve missed a little. I did catch the standing up for religious voices which I greatly support. But in the comments I also noticed many people, some of whom I greatly respect their presence on Kos, discouraging a movement to primary Democrats.

Some compared a call to primary Democrats as an attack.

We have a problem then.

Because we have to talk and discuss our differences. We have to be able to challenge leadership.

And this isn’t me attacking you. This is me saying I’m not satisfied with parts of the Democratic Party. And I am trying to have a conversation with you which doesn’t have to get antagonistic. And yet, conciliatory messages tend to get lost in the churn while the fire breathing posts go to the top. I’ve written both and by far the better one I wrote and in my opinion the more important one got all of 24 recommends. The fire breathing one got 517 recommends.

So I will try again.

Primaries are important. People should not discourage primary challenges and not disparage primary challenges. If you think they are a waste of money, then don’t contribute to them. Many people don’t. If you are so pro-any-Democrat then any of the people who win should be fine. Right? If your favorite incumbent loses it doesn’t matter because any Democrat will do, right? If you’re so adamant about fighting Republicans then why do you care who wins the primary? You shouldn’t hate the primary, you should care less about the outcome if party unity is everything.

Primaries are important because they give the members of this large diverse Party a chance to put forward candidates they prefer. We get to talk about the issues and what is important. We get to see fresh faces and fresh ideas. And primarily, we get a chance to be heard.

And that being heard is the most important part of the primary. People who feel their concerns have been properly heard and their candidate has been given a fair shot are far more likely to support the nominee even if their preferred candidate wasn’t chosen. But people who are continually shut out of the process and don’t get heard at all don’t usually become the enthusiastic supporters you want. At best they hold their nose and vote for the nominee anyway.

If your candidate for the primary is the best the Democrats have to offer then you shouldn’t fear a primary. They should win. And if you think your candidate is the best and shouldn’t need to win the primary and instead just be given the nomination without challenge then you’re not really a believer in democracy. You are a believer in freezing power where it is because you believe it benefits you.

I’m sorry, but if you want me to accept all current Democrats without question and without primaries, then we are not on the same side. That doesn’t put me for the Republicans no matter how much you want to spin it that way. It puts me with the people who believe in democratic selection of our leadership. And if you can’t see this then we have already lost democracy.

[END]
---
[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/4/23/2318195/-The-power-of-primaries?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web

Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.

via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/