Are you excited by – or do you dread – the upcoming presidential election season? Either way, buckle up, for it’s only 12 weeks ‘til the Iowa caucuses, and then (Zoom!) there’s non-stop voting across America for the rest of 2024. Democracy at work!
Well… unless you don’t notice the Plutocratic Primary, where – shhhh – presidential voting is already taking place. However, this balloting is only open to a teensy number of very exclusive voters: Billionaires.
These privileged ones don’t have to go to public campaign events – candidates come to them for closed-door tête à têtes, making undisclosed promises in exchange for millions of dollars in campaign funds. This secretive primary lets moneyed elites initiate or eliminate policies that candidates obediently support. Moreover, by granting or withholding large donations, billionaires can determine which candidates are considered “viable,” letting the superrich have a heavy hand in “choosing the choices” that we commoners will have next year.
The New York Times reports that this flexing of the money muscle was recently exercised at a closed meeting of GOP sugar daddies in Utah. Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Chris Christie, and other presidential wannabes were on display, pleading with the donors to choose them as the party’s alternative to Donald Trump – and to shoo the other Republican contenders out of the race.
Haley bluntly appealed to the rich clique’s plutocratic ego: “I think it’s up to the donors to decide which candidates should get off the stage.” Christie went a step further toward plutocratic rule, asking the elite attendees to decide who would be “the best president.”
No one in the room bothered asking the obvious question: Best for whom? Everyone knew he meant best for the rich. No need for messy elections – let the billionaires choose!
Do something!
To fight the influence of big money in politics, check out these organizations’ work:
The Secretive Presidential Primary That Excludes You