There is considerable academic debate regarding the purpose served by American political parties in the 21st century. A sequence of reforms over the past 50 years were intended to transfer the power to select candidates and shape policy priorities from party insiders to rank-and-file voters. Primary elections replaced caucuses, assemblies and conventions as a mechanism for nominating candidates. Both parties like to brag about their comparative success at pushing aside elite opinion in favor of grassroots sentiment. Nonetheless, a majority of voters have fled the two major parties in favor of unaffiliated registrations.

Rarely mentioned is the reality this new regimen has selected graduates of Ivy League institutions for political office. There is an unstated credentialism underlying the elections of Tom Cotton, Josh Hawley, Ted Cruz, J.D. Vance, Ben Sasse, George Bush and others from the playing fields of privilege to high Republican office. When forced to discuss their ruling-class educations, they ask us to believe the lesson they took away from these dens of liberal iniquity was a disdain for woke dogma. Yet, they emerged with their ambition fully intact. Democrats have also anointed their own fair share of elite graduates, including Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. Despite former President Trump’s charge Kamala Harris only became Black a few years ago, it’s refreshing to learn she attended the historically black Howard University founded by the Freedmen’s Bureau. Apparently, being bused to a newly integrated public school provided her an inkling of who she was.

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In most respects our two major political parties have been hollowed out, serving primarily as fundraising juggernauts that stage a televised coronation each presidential election cycle. They are not, if they ever were, captive to the captains of industry or the deep state. The sole residual function they have exercised in recent decades has been to constrain, restrain and, more often than not, neutralize their lunatic fringes. Democrats have proven better at this chore than Republicans. It took fewer than four years for former President Donald Trump to transform a 150-year-old institution into a cult feared more by his ostensible allies than by Democrats. Historically enthusiastic Republican cheerleaders, like the Wall Street Journal, have had considerable difficulty acknowledging Trump voters are no longer their friends.

Encouragingly, Democrats found sufficient spinal fortitude to chase their nominee out of the 2024 presidential race when it became apparent he no longer possessed the skills which had successfully carried him through 50 years in public office. Despite rank-and-file grumbling, Democrats demonstrated the maturity to recognize blind loyalty would only play in Republicans favor. Begrudging acquiescence may not look like democracy, but democracy only succeeds when voters have command of all the political contingencies. There comes a point when expert opinion matters. By way of example, Republicans have suggested in their platform that parental rights should include an opportunity to elect public school principals. I might consider affording teachers a voice. But, parents? That’s a genuinely bad idea. School boards and superintendents serve a purpose.

I know next to nothing about Arapahoe County Judge Thomas Henderson, who issued a restraining order protecting Colorado Republican Party Chair Dave Williams against an insurrection set on deposing him. I do know, however, he must never have read U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts gerrymandering decision. Roberts found gerrymandering was a political, not a legal issue and, therefore, not “judiciable.” So, my question for Henderson would be, “If political actions lie outside legal contention, why are squabbles among the actual gerrymanderers judiciable?” Should Colorado courts insert themselves into leadership fights at the ACLU or Americans for Prosperity? And, what of the current fracas between the Colorado Libertarian Party and its national officers about placing Robert Kennedy’s name on the state’s 2024 ballot?

When U.S. Rep. Ken Buck decided to seek the Colorado Republican chair several years ago, I warned in these pages he would live to regret his effort to deliver adult supervision within a party showing signs of spinning out of control. There is no more thankless job in politics than refereeing intramural disputes, as Buck swiftly discovered. The RINO (Republicans in Name Only) epithet was the oft-expressed accusation of the day during the multiple ballots required to elect Buck that afternoon. This should have sounded an alarm for the Ivy Leaguer (Princeton) who finally walked away from the lunacy of “Dave’s RINO-slaying Fantasy World” torching of rainbow flags.

In a weird (the now leading candidate for word of the year) election contest, it’s becoming evident Democrats and Republicans reside in separate realities. Republicans wallow in a world of grievance, anger and whining resentment. Their America is in decline, disfavored by God for its failure to honor his/her covenants. Their vision of government is about restricting freedom, setting behavioral rules and enforcing conformity. Democrats are more relaxed. They see problems they think need fixing, but generally feel we are pretty damned lucky to be Americans. They feel far too much of our shared prosperity is funneled to those who already have more than they need. There was a time not so distant when George Bush noted, “Everyone has got value. And the role of government is to help those people realize their value and worth.” The grammar is a little awkward, but his sentiment seems right.

Watching the U.S. women’s gymnastics team win the gold, it was hard not to notice its complexion: a blonde teenager, a Hispanic, an Asian, an African American and two mixed race athletes. This wasn’t a DEI-constructed team. These were America’s best female gymnasts. Competition sports don’t offer space for anything other than excellence. As a Democrat, these women made me proud. Earlier, while sitting through the credits at the PIXAR movie “Inside Out 2,” the hundreds of contributors read like a United Nations roster: Hungarian, Slavic, Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Italian, Indonesian, Filipino, Arabic, African, Russian, Scandinavian, Spanish, French and familiar Anglo-Saxon American names scrolled by. Isn’t it at least likely this glorious diversity is what created a smash-hit movie? Melting pot citizenship has been key to our economic strength and cultural dominance.

Miller Hudson is a public affairs consultant and a former Colorado legislator.