General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Is arguing that older elected officials should make way for younger ones "Identity Politics?" [View all]TheBlackAdder
(28,167 posts).
The old Poli-Sci school of thought was that the Republican Party was Top Down, meaning that you had to clear the gatekeepers to even be considered as a potential candidate. The Democratic Party was Ground Up, meaning that the people choose their leadership. That changed over the past 20-30 years and the majority of state parties are now acting as gatekeepers, controlling who gets the media attention, who gets the funding, and who gets the ground operations to run a successful campaign. Gee, I shouldn't have just finished my Honor's Poli-Sci Minor a year ago.
While it is a nostalgic view that people choose the candidate in our party, the reality is that the majority of candidates need the blessing of the local party bosses to thrive.
Again, if voters don't know the candidate, they will just vote for the existing elected official to keep status quo.
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