• JcbAzPx@lemmy.world
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    12 hours ago

    It should be noted that parties can choose their candidates without an election if they really want to, but it’s not a good idea if they want a chance to win. See the most recent presidential election for an example.

    • user_name@lemmy.world
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      12 hours ago

      That’s true. Presidential elections are a little different given the primaries are technically only for convention delegates bound only for the first vote. There’s also instances where the party picks in the face of a candidate death before the primary or general, such as in Minnesota in 2002.

      This was a big development in US politics that happened more or less due to fallout from the Vietnam War. Look at the map of the 1968 Democratic primaries and 1972 Democratic primaries. After the catastrophe that was 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago—driven by the drama around LBJ’s late departure, Hubert Humphrey being despicable, and the hope and ultimate assassination of RFK, and the lack of responsiveness to the anti-war movement, there was a serious push to move the process from one controlled almost entirely by party officials to a more democratic, if still party-official-directed process.