The Anti-Democratic notion of Electability

            Democracy is a very simple concept.  Voters get together and they vote for the outcome that they most want.  You don’t need a degree in political science to understand that concept.  Unfortunately, there is a concept that has invaded our democracy in my lifetime, and over the years it has developed a strangle-hold on the very simple ideal of democracy, and that is: electability.  At first glance, the term seems self-evident.  Electability is a collection of traits that a candidate has that makes it possible for him or her to win an election.  That seems simple enough, right?  The longer I’ve peered at this idea of electability, the more I have come to the conclusion, that it is a pernicious means of thwarting the democratic process.

            In the 2004 election democrats who liked Howard Dean best were shepherded towards John Kerry because of his electability.  He lost.  More recently, most Republicans were resigned to having Mitt Romney as their candidate because of his electability.  He lost.  If a person were asked to define “electability” based on the outcome of elections, it seems that the term is most often applied to candidates who don’t win.  I never heard George W. Bush or Barack Obama described as electable.  They simply got elected.

            So, how is this a case of “thwarting the democratic process,” as I mentioned earlier?  Well, who determines electability?  I honestly have no means of doing so myself.  I can only pick the candidate who speaks to my principles the most.  In order to determine electability, you would need some insight into the collective thinking of the electorate.  I would argue that most people do not possess this insight, and therefore making “electability” an issue for a given candidate is essentially an effort to rob the people of their preference and put it in the hand of so-called experts who know best. 

            For a long time, party bosses nominated their candidates behind closed doors, and the people were simply expected to support them.  I’d like to think that we’ve moved on from those days, but I often feel as though the party bosses (who should be retired by now) are unhappy with the general public making decisions that they used to make.  Enter electability.  Electability is how pundits allow their “know-how” to influence elections. 

            I’ve picked a candidate this election: Bernie Sanders.  I’m told that he lacks “electability.”  I’m taking that as a promising sign.