The McGovern-Fraser Commission had banned ex officio delegates so as to ensure that the nomination process was controlled by ordinary voters. The result was a convention in 1972 in which there were relatively few party leaders or officeholders. That convention also then selected a nominee who badly lost the general election, which party leaders blamed on the absence of officeholders and party leaders. To prevent the nomination of an unelectable candidate in the future, the party decided to reserve a small number delegate spots for party leaders and officeholders (PLEOs), but the PLEOs were pledged to support the candidates favored by party voters in their state’s primary election or caucus. Following another general election loss in 1980, the Democrats created a category of unpledged delegates who could support any candidate they wished – the so-called “superdelegates.” Although the superdelegates never played a decisive role in the selection of the nominee, fears that they would do so mounted over time, and in 2018, the Democratic Party stripped the superdelegates of the right to vote in the first round of balloting, effectively ending their influence in the process.

Barack Obama's presidential success created a fallacy surrounding how Black voters choose politicians to support. In the wake of his success, many Black politicians unsuccessfully worked to garner Black support using tactics similar to Obama. This chapter breaks down the conventional wisdom that come out of Obama's success and asks motivating question of this manuscript: What considerations outside of race, partisanship, and gender do Black voters make when choosing a politician to support? I introduce my original concept of community commitment and juxtapose it with existing concepts to explain its unique contribution and ability to explain Black voter candidate selection.

A comprehensive look at the events of the 2020 election, Trump’s loss, his efforts to reverse the results of the election, the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, and Trump’s second impeachment for incitement of insurrection. Addresses the reasons for the second acquittal and their implications.

Describes the facts of Donald Trump’s effort to extort Ukraine into announcing investigations of his presidential rival Joseph Biden and how exposure of that effort led to a renewed effort to impeach him.

Fierce partisan conflict in the United States is not new. Throughout American history, there have been polarizing struggles over fundamental questions relating to the meaning of the Declaration, the Constitution, and the relationship between the two. These struggles over ideals have become all encompassing when joined to battles over what it means to be an American – conflicts that have become more regular and dangerous with the rise of the administrative state. The idea of a “State” cuts more deeply than suggested by Max Weber’s definition of “a human community that (successfully) claims the monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force within a given territory.” Beyond the powers of government, the State represents a centralizing ambition (at least for progressive reformers) to cultivate, or impose, a vision of citizenship. In Randolph Bourne’s words, the State is a “concept of power” that comes alive in defense of or in conflict with an ideal of how such foundational values of Americanism as “free and enlightened” are to be interpreted and enforced. The ideal is symbolized not by the Declaration and the Constitution but rather in rallying emblems such as the flag and Uncle Sam.