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President Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race – and to endorse his vice president, Kamala Harris, to lead the new ticket – has raised questions about the process of selecting a new nominee. But it’s not uncharted territory.
In fact, as Philip Klinkner, a professor of government at Hamilton College, explains, there’s a long history of political parties picking presidential candidates without much input from the wider public. That history is, in fact, much longer than the practice of having regular voters weigh in through primaries and caucuses.
The current system has only existed since 1972, Klinkner writes. And it picked some real winners, like Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama. It picked some less-great candidates, too, though – including George McGovern.
The previous system, with selections made at the convention, also picked some winners – like Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy. And it picked some people you’ve probably never heard of, like Horatio Seymour.
The bottom line, Klinkner explains, is that the method of picking a nominee bears little connection to that person’s quality as a candidate, likelihood of winning – or potential success as a president.
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