VOTERS, NOT COURTS SHOULD DETERMINE GOP NOMINEE!

 Weekly Opinion Editorial

DATE TO WATCH

by Steve Fair

 

     The United States Supreme Court (SCOTUS) agreed this week to decide whether former President Donald Trump can be barred from the ballot.   The Colorado Supreme Court voted 4-3 to remove Trump from the primary ballot over his actions surrounding the January 6^, 2021 Capitol incident.  In Maine, the Democratic secretary of state unilaterally made the decision to keep Trump off the ballot- a politically driven decision.    The SCOTUS will hear oral arguments February 8^th on the Colorado case.  Both states cite the 14^th amendment’s insurrection clause as justification for bumping the former president off the ballot.  Three observations:

     First, primary elections determine delegates, not the Party nominee.  Delegates determine the nominee.  Both major political Parties use a variety of presidential preference primaries and caucuses to bind delegates to their national nominating conventions.  Colorado, like Oklahoma, conducts their GOP presidential primary on March 5^th- Super Tuesday.  Each state Party then uses the results of the primary to bind convention delegates to the results of the primary preference election.  That means a delegate can’t vote for whomever they want.  They are bound by Party rules and state law to cast their vote at the nominating convention for the candidate who won the primary. 

     During a caucus, participants gather at a meeting to discuss issues and debate among themselves.  They align themselves with a candidate and support tallied.  Those with the least amount of support are eliminated and their supporters are given the chance to realign themselves with one of the remaining candidates.   Caucuses attract enthusiastic, more engaged voters.  In contract to the simple and private act of marking a ballot in a primary, a caucus has more interaction with candidates and their passionate supporters.  A primary is inclusive of the general public- a caucus more exclusive.  Debates on which system is best have been raging for decades.  

     The Colorado GOP leadership has already announced they will move to a caucus system to determine their convention delegates if Trump’s name doesn’t appear on the March ballot.     

     Second, voters should determine Trump’s future, not the courts.  Liberals fear the former president is going to win and will do anything they can to prevent that.  They will go to any length to insure he is not elected, even violating the fundamental liberty of their fellow Americans to vote.  Trump is leading in the polls and is the front runner for the GOP nomination, but there are no guarantees in politics.  That is why elections are held. 

Trump’s legal team has argued that he personally did not take part in an insurrection and even if he had, the insurrection clause of the 14^th does not apply to the presidency.  They claim ballot access and candidate eligibility determined by the courts would lead to nationwide disputes and ‘nebulous’ insurrection claims. 

     Third, use of the insurrection clause appears to be a misapplication of the 14^th.  The 14^th amendment was drafted after the Civil War.  Its’ purpose was to prevent Confederate elected officials/officers from seeking Congressional seats- people who had personally fought against the U.S.  Congress was charged with determining whether a person was eligible to seek office, not the courts.   Of the eight public officials who have been disqualified under Section 3 of the 14^th, six were immediately after the Civil War.  The most recent use of it was when a New Mexico county commissioner was removed from office last year by a NM state court for his participation in the January 6^th Capitol protest. 

     The Iowa caucuses are just a week away.  On Monday January, Republicans in the Hawkeye state will gather by precinct.  There are 1,678 total precincts in the state.  About 30% or 170,000 registered Republicans are expected to participate.  Iowa’s 40 delegates to the Republican National convention will be awarded to candidates on a proportional basis based on the caucus results. 

     Normally, the date of the Iowa caucuses are the date to watch in a presidential year, but the date to watch this cycle is February 8^th when the SCOTUS hears arguments on Donald Trump’s ballot access eligibility.