Dan Weeks: Election 2024: Where do we go from here?

We Granite Staters are rightfully proud of our first-in-the-nation presidential primary. For more than a century, it served the country well by providing an open testing ground for would-be leaders of the free world. Here in New Hampshire, a national name and campaign war chest were neither necessary nor sufficient to win. Instead, you had to prove yourself in living rooms and diners and town halls, taking real questions from real voters in real time. It’s hard to imagine American democracy succeeding without it when it comes to presidential elections.

Then came 2024. During this pivotal election year, the Democratic Party made the unfortunate decision to bypass the New Hampshire primary entirely, in deference to President Joe Biden, while national Republicans lined up behind former President Donald Trump before the primaries even began. As a result, both candidates were rubber stamped and we the people were effectively denied what we have been telling pollsters we desire all along: a real choice. Not to mention a real democracy.

By all accounts, that choice and that democracy will not come from the right anytime soon. Republicans are firmly in the grips of Trump, a convicted felon with authoritarian ambitions whose success in this election could spell the end of American democracy as we know it. But don’t take my word for it – take Trump’s.

In a nationally televised interview last November, Trump declared, “If I happen to be president and I see somebody who's doing well and beating me very badly, I [will] indict them.” In a Veterans Day speech the next day, he echoed Adolf Hitler by referring to his political opponents as “vermin” who should be “rooted out." It was consistent with his prior declaration on right-wing radio that if he wins back the White House, he will have “no choice” but to imprison political opponents, as well as his claim that “I have the right to do whatever I want as president” including “termination” of parts of the Constitution.

As if Trump’s dictatorial desires weren’t clear enough, he has declared multiple times that he will “only” be a “dictator…on day one” and threatened that "If I don't get elected, it's going to be a bloodbath for the whole country.” He has quoted Vladimir Putin admiringly on the campaign trail, bragged about his relationship with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, and even praised Saddam Hussein's terrorism tactics. All the while, he has repeatedly refused to say he would accept the results of the 2024 election on national TV.

And lest we forget, Trump matched his authoritarian words with action last time he held the presidency, by enabling white supremacists and summoning a violent mob to the U.S. Capitol as part of a treasonous plot to overturn the 2020 election. Historians called it the “most significant threat to basic constitutionalism we’ve experienced since the Civil War.” Trump called it “peaceful” and continues to salute the violent insurrectionists as “unbelievable patriots” and "hostages” who he will pardon “the first day we get into office.”

As for the “if elected” part, the recent presidential debate between Trump and President Biden has measurably raised the odds that it will come to pass. Although Biden has rendered exemplary service to the nation throughout his half-century in Washington, he was unable to defend his many notable achievements or hold Trump to account – in spite of the latter’s incessant lies and misleading statements, which flowed at a rate of one for every minute he spoke. In a show of listlessness, confusion, and verbal blunders that shocked supporters and opponents alike, Biden raised serious doubts about his fitness to perform the full duties of president, leading many undecided voters to conclude their only choice is Trump.

According to the major post-debate polls, 74% of voters (including Biden’s own supporters) now believe the president is unable to be effective and Trump’s lead has doubled from before the debate to six points among likely voters, and nine points among registered voters. That translates to a 312 to 226 Electoral College landslide for Trump if the election were held today. By contrast, at this time in the 2020 election cycle, Biden was leading Trump by eight points – just enough to squeak by in key swing states in the end, given Republicans’ built-in Electoral College advantage.

The resulting panic from Democrats, who are increasingly calling on Biden to step aside, could lead to just the solution we need to protect American democracy in 2024: putting democracy into practice, New Hampshire-style. Which brings me back to the New Hampshire primary and a simple prescription for where we go from here.

Although we lack the time to restart the presidential primaries full-tilt, Democrats could still give the nation what so many voters desire in the form of a “mini-primary” to select the most qualified replacement for Biden between now and the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in August. Imagine a series of nationally-televised town halls, one in every region of the country, in which the top five to 10 Democratic contenders were invited to share their stories and how they would address the major issues of the day. Although these forums would not be nearly as intimate as New Hampshire town halls, they could still allow voters to submit their questions to a group of independent moderators, who would randomly select which questions to ask while ensuring a balance of issues and voices.

Of course, no perfect method exists for shortlisting candidates to participate in the town halls, but polling averages from a nationally-representative sample of independent surveys could do the job. In addition to the televised forums, the candidates would crisscross the nation conducting interviews and meeting voters – perhaps in a New Hampshire diner or two – in a bid to win broad public support and, ultimately, a majority of the roughly 4,700 Democratic delegates at the DNC to become the nominee.

Is there uncertainty and risk? Of course. But the uncertainty would be overcome in six short weeks at the DNC while the risk cannot be greater than Trump’s decisive advantage today if Biden is confirmed as the Democratic nominee. And let’s not forget that open conventions were the standard means by which both parties selected their nominees — from Abraham Lincoln to Franklin D. Roosevelt to John F. Kennedy — until the early 1970s. Only this one would be enhanced by the mini-primary, an event that would transfix the nation and galvanize voters like never before.

As Biden himself has often said, democracy is on the ballot this November and the stakes could not be higher — especially after a MAGA majority on the Supreme Court recently handed Trump a stunning gift of presidential immunity for any manner of undefined “official” acts. If all signs say our president, who is not yet the Democratic nominee, cannot get the job done in spite of his extraordinary record and qualifications, it is the job of Democrats to find someone else who can while there is still time. Unlike the Republicans, who have given themselves over to the whims of a would-be king, Democrats understand that the nation and our party’s democratic ideals must come first.

At this pivotal moment in American history, we should prevail on Biden to render a final decisive service to the nation he has loved so well by releasing his delegates and embracing this open and orderly process to select the strongest possible successor at the DNC. Our democracy demands no less.

Dan Weeks spent 20 years promoting democratic election reform as a nonpartisan nonprofit leader. He lives in Nashua with his wife and kids.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Dan Weeks: Election 2024: Where do we go from here?