Local opinion: Eliminating partisan primaries will help

If you held on to the idea that politicians can still demonstrate high character and be noble in crisis situations, you can put that nonsense aside after the recent Presidential debate and the subsequent outcome. The Republican Party discarded the quaint notion of nobility with their embrace of Donald Trump. Even the MAGA crowd might agree that there is no nobility there. They don’t care; they want a bully. A nasty, tough guy that will scare their enemies in a scary world.

Due to the egregious words and actions of Donald Trump, the Democrats have not had to do much to claim the corner on character and nobility. However, lest we forget, they haven’t always occupied this lofty space. When Bill Clinton was president, they worked hard to throw a 19-year-old White House intern under the bus when Clinton engaged in predatory sexual behavior and lied about it to his family and the country.

Since the debate, seen by billions nationally and internationally, Joe Biden and the Democratic Party have been given a chance to prove their character and nobility; an opportunity to take action and show that they value the well-being and future of our country over personal ego and party politics. Instead, they have reminded us that there is no real difference between the two parties when their power is challenged. Led by Joe Biden, the vast majority of elected Democrats choose to back his narcissistic refusal to step aside as the Presidential nominee despite the clear demonstration of his severely reduced mental capabilities. If the term “narcissistic” seems to bold, read the definition. His family and staffers are enablers in this decision and shame on them for their selfishness.

Joe Biden wanted to be president since his election to the Senate over 50 years ago. Now that he is, he refuses to do the right thing for the good of the country. As voters, we are faced with a difficult choice between two old, narcissistic men. One of them is incompetent, the other outrageous.

Is there a solution for our predicament? In Arizona, we have an opportunity to loosen the grip of the two-party primary system by voting to eliminate partisan primaries. The initiative will be on the ballot as Make Elections Fair. Non-partisan primaries give all voters, regardless of their party affiliation, the right to pick candidates for the general election. This doesn’t necessarily improve the character of the candidates but it will give us more choices and greater voter participation. Candidates can still run as members of their respective parties. The most telling thing here is that both the Democratic and Republican parties vehemently oppose this initiative. It threatens their power.

Our two-party system has failed us and, to our detriment, the parties control our election choices by controlling the primary process. The parties, Republican and Democrat, have put their interests ahead of ours, starkly illustrated by their full-throated support of two of the most incompetent candidates ever to run for the Presidency. We now need to protect our interests the best we can. We must pay attention to those people running down-ballot from the President. We need to set aside our anger and resentments at the other party and look for people of high character running in local and statewide elections. Candidates from both parties say what they must to win their primaries. We must look past that, do our research and seek out candidates of good character. We need to fill the benches to protect our future.

With the Supreme Court decision, granting immunity to the President for official acts, character and nobility must be our first priority and policy our second when deciding how to cast our vote.

Congress can change policy and, to large degree, we can influence that change every two years. As for the president, now unrestrained in official acts, who do you want with their finger on the trigger? I’ll take character and nobility over policy every time.