“The Selling Of The President”

US desperate for anything other than Trump/Biden rematch. More than 6 in 10 (62 percent) say they would be “dissatisfied” or “angry” if it happens. Which party will accede to clear market demand?? ⁦⁦@ABCPolitics⁩ ⁦@washingtonpost⁩ https://t.co/EIXHPmJmsh

— Scott Jennings (@ScottJenningsKY) February 5, 2023

"Market demand”? Is that the same “marketplace” that gripes about Congress relentlessly, but re-elects its Congresscritters like clockwork (some for generations)? The same “market” that complains for four years about who’s in the White House, then re-elects them so consistently a one-term POTUS is almost a unicorn?

And how do we even know these sentiments, which we all accept as true but can’t prove (except for re-elections)? Polls. And how reliable are polls, either for predicting the future (election outcomes) or reporting on the national mood? Well, the former is empirically verifiable, and the record is…really not good. The latter is absolutely unverifiable, and yet we treat it like it was physics rather than the most speculative of social sciences.

So, a “market”? A market at least has the virtue of being verifiable at the consumer level. If your product sells, the market approves. If it doesn’t sell, the market turns thumbs down. Now, if parties came up with candidates the market approved, would that increase voter participation? That’s always been the theory, but it’s never been proven out in practice. Indeed, that’s how we went from the smoke-filled room and the endless ballots at conventions to the primary process that will, in two years time, probably produce the “products” already being complained of.

As it is every four years.

And if primaries are not a responsive market, what is? But what of the metaphor? Is the Presidency only soap that we the people purchase? We certainly treat it that way. Why else start speculating on who will run next time the day after the last election? Trump announced earlier than almost any candidate in history, but that’s not the story. The story is this no one else has yet announced a candidacy.

A root canal would be more popular than a rerun of the 2020 election. https://t.co/j2qmcwKW8P

— Barbara Comstock (@BarbaraComstock) February 5, 2023

Every four years two years before/after the last/next Presidential election, you get this story. It’s a sure sign we’re halfway between elections (who knows where the time goes?). And it’s absolutely pointless. But pundits gotta pundit, and they have to cross the wasteland between election years somehow. Largely they do it with ritual.