By The 2000 presidential election? Stolen, argued Al Gore and his supporters.
More than a month of challenges ended only when the Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, ruled that the recounts had to come to an end and Florida’s 25 electoral votes, and therefore the presidency, had to be awarded to George W. Bush.
Even then, millions of Americans refused to accept the result. Media organizations conducted their own recount and concluded that Gore had won the Florida vote, albeit by the slightest of margins. Throughout his presidency, Bush was handicapped by the perception that he was an illegitimate president.
Art Marmorstein, local columnist
The 2016 presidential election? Stolen, argued Hillary Clinton and her supporters.
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Across the country, there were post-election protests, many of them turning violent. “Not my president,” they chanted. Two months later, they were still demonstrating.
On Trump’s Inauguration Day, there were violent anti-Trump protests in Portland; Chicago; Washington, D.C.; and even in Hong Kong, London and Paris. Protestors trashed storefronts and burned vehicles. Hundreds were injured, and the police had to use teargas to break up the mobs.
Four years later, Clinton was still insisting that the election had been stolen, and Trump spent his presidency handicapped by the perception he was an illegitimate president.
The 2020 election? Stolen, argued Trump and his supporters.
The two months after Election Day saw dozens of court challenges and demonstrations, culminating in the Jan. 6, 2021, attempt to occupy the Capitol building itself and stop the certification of the election. Many of Trump’s supporters still think he was cheated, and Biden has spent the last four years handicapped by the perception he is an illegitimate president.
Seeing the ugly aftermath of the 2000, 2016, and 2020 election disputes, all Americans ought to be on guard to make sure that the 2024 election isn’t stolen — that all sides will be able to accept the result.
Unfortunately, it’s too late. The 2024 election will go down in history as another stolen election — regardless of who actually becomes president.
Elections are about more than selecting a candidate. Conducted rightly, presidential elections are times of reflection, times to take stock of where we are as a nation, where we seem to be headed and what we should be doing differently.
For a time, the primary election schedule served this purpose well. The first-in-the nation Iowa caucuses provided a great kickoff to the election. A persuasive candidate with minimal financial backing could establish themselves just by showing up and sharing their ideas.
The New Hampshire primary was likewise a great forum for an “ideas” candidate. Easy enough to launch a campaign in such a small state, and even a complete unknown had a chance to step into the national spotlight.
The Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary both provided opportunities for the popular voice.
Eugene McCarthy’s solid showing in the New Hampshire primary was what convinced Lyndon Johnson to step aside in 1968. The people had spoken — time for a new leader, a new vision. Jimmy Carter was “Jimmy Who?” until the Iowa caucuses turned him into a contender for the 1976 nomination.
Over the last few decades, other states have tried to cut in line, hoping to increase their own influence in presidential elections. Party leaders, especially among the Democrats, have often supported the changes, and political pundits, more often than not, support the changes. New Hampshire and Iowa are too white and too rural. They don’t reflect the nation.
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Those are reasonable arguments, but the crowded early primary schedule we have now overwhelmingly favors established, well-funded candidates. Is this an improvement? Better to have candidates reflecting the popular voice of New Hampshire and Iowa voters than the big-money candidates who are now the only ones with any chance. And much better to have a system where frontrunner candidates and their ideas can be challenged effectively from within their own party.
The compressed early primary schedule effectively silenced Ron DeSantis; Nikki Haley; Vivek Ramaswamy; Marianne Williamson; Robert Kennedy, Jr.; Dean Phillips and disenfranchised American voters.
Watch out for election fixes. They can lead to fixed elections.
Art Marmorstein is a professor of history at Northern State University. His viewpoints are his own and do not reflect those of the university.
Art Marmorstein
Art Marmorstein lives in Aberdeen and is a professor of history at Northern State University. His viewpoints are his own and do not reflect those of the university.