It appears our electoral system is becoming the Wild West of democratic republics.
The leading candidate for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination is facing 91 criminal charges. Meanwhile, it appears states are just making it up as they go on whether former President Donald Trump can appear on the ballot for the 2024 election.
This is just becoming embarrassing for the United States.
On Thursday night, California’s secretary of state, Dr. Shirley Weber, declined to remove Trump from the presidential primary ballot — despite pressure from the state’s lieutenant governor, who apparently thinks the minimum age to be president is 40.
Weber’s decision came hours after Maine’s secretary of state, Shenna Bellows, removed the former president from the ballot, citing the clause of the 14th Amendment that prohibits individuals who engaged in an insurrection after taking an oath to uphold the Constitution from holding office again.
So far, Colorado and Maine have said Trump engaged in an insurrection and cannot be on the ballot, while Michigan and California said he can be — at least for now.
All of this is happening before he has even been convicted of a crime — or even been criminally charged with insurrection — so it is just various officials deciding for themselves how to apply the 14th Amendment.
Proponents of the 14th Amendment move claim it is self-evident Trump engaged in an insurrection, trial or not, and it does not matter that the president is not explicitly mentioned in the clause. But there are legal questions about whether the presidency is covered by it and whether one official in a state can unilaterally decide someone engaged in an insurrection and is barred from holding office.
This is a mess and it is not how our system should be work. And honestly, at this point, what is to stop a secretary of state in Texas or some other red state from deciding, “What the hell, Joe Biden’s an insurrectionist” and kicking him off the ballot?
It’s ironic that the side that caterwauled about the norms in our politics being ignored or eroded by Trump now seems perfectly fine with the utter chaos inflicted upon the country by left-wing groups pushing untested legal theories.
The former president has said disturbing things and behaved in a manner unfit for the office of president. From calling for parts of the Constitution to be terminated to dining with a white supremacist to foolishly deciding to take classified documents to Mar-a-Lago and then defying a subpoena to return them, he has shown himself unworthy to hold office again.
Yet, President Joe Biden presided over an economy poised to boom following COVID-19 and then oversaw soaring inflation, supply chain issues, and chaos on the world stage from Afghanistan to Ukraine — and possibly Guyana — all while he projected weakness and lounged on the beach as Maui burned.
Now, as polls show Trump leading Biden, Democrats are apoplectic about the chance of the 45th president winning in 2024 and are looking to Section 3 of the 14th Amendment as their last hope like Princess Leia turned to Obi-Wan Kenobi.
It is understandable Democrats would want some magic wand as they fret about the election with an incredibly unpopular incumbent.
Yet seeking to use whatever method they can to stop Trump is not the answer to their problem. It is, however, the way to burn down whatever faith Americans have left in our institutions and electoral system.
The United States would do well to have stronger parties that could put a check on majoritarian impulses and prevent unserious or craven people from seeking office. But that should be something the parties do, not the government.
Yet, rather than practice what they preach when they screech about what democracy looks like, liberals have decided to ignore and break whatever norms stand in their way to stop Trump from winning.
Norms and precedents exist for a reason. And when you decide to throw them out the window like the Left has, the predictable result is utter chaos and the destruction of faith in the results of the upcoming election. Good job, everyone! Hope you’re happy.
