Local opinion: Raw politics primer as midterms approach

Midterm elections are days away, and we hear the familiar chorus that the stakes have never been higher. The polarized stakeholders are pulling out all the financial stops to assure victory for their righteous causes because it’s all about votes.

Continue reading because this is not a discussion about which faction is doing a better job than the others nor bore you with the intricate distinctions among capitalism, democratic socialism, socialism and communism; unresolved since the days of Marx and Engels. Also excluded is the ongoing partisan conflict of gerrymandering; both major parties do it with equal fervor, and there is no solution in sight; we only complain when our side gets screwed. And third-party flirtations are a joke, so we’re stuck with the donkey and the elephant, so let’s look at the power players:

The official platform of the Democratic Socialists of America calls for abolishing the Senate, abolishing the Electoral College, and replacing the President and Supreme Court with an executive and judiciary chosen by and subordinate to Congress. Our Constitution would be history, and progressive Democrats would rule in perpetuity.

Old Guard Democrats promote their party as a big tent that welcomes new ideas — but with moderation. Keep the Senate but make D.C. and Puerto Rico states; four new Dem seats in permanently. Retain the Supreme Court but raise the number of justices to assure a progressive majority forever. Preserve the presidency but neutralize the Electoral College through the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, now law in 16 states plus D.C., which awards a state’s electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote. Our Constitution would remain intact, and Democrats would rule for our lifetimes.

Republicans, MAGA or otherwise, want to shrink the size of the bloated federal bureaucracy and return powers to the states where the Constitution says they rightfully belong. They cite the unforeseen and unelected fourth branch of federal government that no longer reports to the constitutional three.

They are the ‘experts’ of the regulatory agencies, and in most cases, except for federal security, these functions are best performed by the experts closest to the people: the states or their counties.

The GOP also insists that only US citizens may vote and House representation be based only on citizen population, ensuring that our precious right is not diluted by the ineligible. The majority of Republicans also want to retain the Senate filibuster rule even now, when it is preventing passage of the SAVE Act, which would codify their voting rights goals. Our Constitution would be reaffirmed, and democratic republicanism would rule for another election cycle.