The saying is well known…to the victor goes the spoils.  

What is not quite as evident is that the responsibility for securing the ensuing peace also falls to the victor, and how well that peace endures will be directly related to how the victor views the vanquished.  

One of the struggles a history buff such as myself must endure in life is not assuming that everyone else thinks of current events in the context of historically similar circumstances.  

Where I may see constant connections to the past, others may be blissfully unaware of the prior events at all, so forgive me a short summary of the prior events to set the scene.

After World War One the Allies took a punitive approach to the defeated powers, opening the door for war to return within 20 years.  

When World War Two ended, the Allies learned from the past and instead of punishing Germany and Japan, rebuilt them from the ground up, and the world has been better off because of it.

Today in America we are faced with a divided electorate and a dysfunctional duopoly, one half of which is still committed to the rule of law, and the other half audaciously enamored with autocracy.  

The threat of demagoguery and populism has always been present and will always be present in any democracy, the key is to limit it as much as possible, but how?  

The first line of defense is an educated and informed electorate.  The second is the opposition party whenever these twin evils begin to take root in their competitor.  

Like an opportunistic virus, Trumpism took root in the Republican Party in 2016 and has continued to hold sway over the years with no sign of abating.  

Traditionally the only tried and true antibiotic is repeated, demonstrative defeats at the ballot box, which usually results in the losing party realizing over time that they must change their ways and positions if they want to get re-elected in the future.  

Like most antibiotics, the effectiveness can wane over time, and the real fear with Trumpism is how long will it continue to have an iron grip on the GOP.  Will it outlive its creator?  Will the party return to its prior roots or will a new acolyte arise to claim the throne of thuggery?  

President Biden has made the defense of democracy a key tenet of his administration, which I applaud.  

Several years ago I sent him a letter (the first I’ve ever sent to a President) stating that the best way he could ensure that our democracy continues to thrive and give our voters the best possible choices was to support the litany of nonpartisan electoral reforms I’ve discussed before.  

I got a form letter back a few weeks later but I’m sure my letter was never seen by anyone other than a mail clerk.  At least I tried.  

In the event that the Democrats win the White House and veto-proof majorities in Congress this year, instead of ignoring the GOP and letting them figure out their own problems for themselves, the far better option for all would be to do what it can to help give itself worthy opponents again, whether that is a re-born Republican Party or additional competition in the form of new parties and independents.

Why should the Democrats do that you say?  Because competition makes us all better and brings out the best versions of ourselves.  Only iron can sharpen iron.  

Those of us in the nonpartisan election innovations movement have waited patiently election cycle after election cycle for progressives to put country over party and help our efforts.  

But time and again we are told variations of “I totally support XYZ election reform, but this election cycle I gotta focus on defeating the GOP because of X, or because of Trump, etc”.  

2024 has been, and rightly so, framed as either you are for democracy or you are for Trump, and so we have collectively put aside our efforts to ensure the defense of democracy.  

But I have to ask, when will be the election cycle where finally rank and file Democrats will support en masse the passage of nonpartisan reforms that get us all better candidates, even if it means the Democrats have to work harder to win elections as a result?  2026?  2028?  2030?  2050?

While I was disappointed that the Democrats didn’t pick someone from across the political aisle like Kinzinger or Romney to be their VP nominee, and thereby guarantee a resounding coalition defeat of Trumpism, it gives me hope that Vice President Harris has selected as her running mate someone who has been supportive of ranked choice voting and proportional representation in his home state of Minnesota.  

I am however under no illusions that nonpartisan reforms like this will be a centerpiece of a Harris administration.  

But just as America and the United Kingdom recognized after World War Two that it was in their long term interests to rebuild their vanquished foes, so too must the Democratic Party recognize at some point that it is in its interests and the country’s interests to be magnanimous in victory and help the GOP rid itself of demagoguery and populism.