Democrats Could Defeat Trump by Not Running a Candidate in 2020

Culminating in the election of Donald Trump, our two-party system has been fraying before our eyes over the past several years. Now this week comes news that Arizona Republican Senator Jeff Flake won't seek re-election, citing the direction of the GOP as the primary impetus for his decision.Though Americans are no strangers to contentious primary elections, the rank and file of both major political parties in the past have generally united with the common goal of electing their chosen torch bearers. The refusal of many Bernie Sanders supporters to endorse Hillary Clinton in the 2016 general election and the rise of the Never Trump movement within the Republican party would have been unheard of in previous election cycles. It's hard to imagine an objective observer looking at the positions and statements of Colin Powell and Donald Trump and concluding they should belong to the same political group. Just as hard to understand is that a democratic socialist like Bernie Sanders would fall under the same tent, no matter how big said tent purports to be, of a pro-business moderate like Hillary Clinton. And to muddy the waters even further, of the seven faithless delegates in the 2016 Electoral College, four were Democrats who voted for Republicans not named Trump. A strong argument could be made that each party is made up of two distinct groups, and that we already have a de facto four-party system. You have the progressive wing battling the center-left establishment within the Democratic party, and you have the so-called mainstream GOP grappling with the insurgent Trumpists within the Republican party, locked in a struggle for the soul of America's right wing. Our primary system tends to cater to the more extreme candidates and leaves more moderate voters with difficult choices in general elections.Unfortunately, the two party system is so entrenched within our government that it is probably impossible to break us up into the four parties that actually align with the majority of our population today. The Democrats continue to struggle to find a message that resonates with voters despite historically low popularity for a sitting president from the opposing party. Most Democrats and a significant if silent number of Republicans feel strongly that defeating Donald Trump in 2020 is a moral imperative. So working within the constraints of our two-party system, how can Democrats ensure that Trump is a one-term president? Here's my novel idea: don't run a candidate.Many political analysts have questioned whether John Kasich will mount a primary challenge to Trump in 2020, some going so far as to suggest a split ticket with Colorado Democratic Governor John Hickenlooper. Though Kasich has recently quelled rumors of a split ticket, a moderate from within the Republican party could prove a disruptive influence for a party that already finds itself in turmoil. But a challenge from within could be plausibly stopped by hardline Trumpists, as only Republicans are allowed to vote in primaries in most cases. Rather than allow primary elections to continue to cater to the more extreme elements in American politics, Democrats could make a reasoned decision to decline to participate in the 2020 presidential election and throw their support behind a potential independent John Kasich. He could solidify a unifying platform by choosing a moderate vice presidential nominee such as 2016 presidential candidate Evan McMullin, who unsuccessfully tried to harness mainstream Republican distaste with their party's nominee. It would be the first time since 1828 that the Democrats have not fielded a candidate for president, and would be unprecedented in modern American politics. However, given we have a president who governs via Twitter and openly criticizes the family of an American servicemember who perished in combat, one could argue that extreme times calls for extreme measures.An independent Kasich/McMullin ticket is purely hypothetical, and I only mean to underscore a larger point. We can't fight the two party system, but we don't all have to participate in a political structure that continues to tear at the fabric of our civil society. It may be time for Democrats to put country before party.Dylan Whitehead is a former Dallas Morning News Community Voices columnist and insurance professional in Richardson. Email: dylan.whitehead@gmail.comWhat's your view?Got an opinion about this issue? Send a letter to the editor, and you just might get published.  Continue reading...

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