Editors’ note:  A question being discussed in and around Utah Republican (and Democratic) circles and which will be debated at the next Professional Republican Womens’ meeting at Noon on Thursday, October 7 at the Utah State Capitol is, “Should Utah repeal its caucus-convention system and replace it with a Primary election system?” 

This is an unedited version of a guest editorial I wrote on this topic that appeared in the Salt Lake Tribune on May 30, 2010.  The details of how constitutional original intent has been perverted with regard to our election process is a topic for another time.   

May I simply say that Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison (the primary author) and the host of signers of the Constitution all clearly identified the form of government they created.  It was not a democracy.  It was a republic.  Most Americans have no clue what the difference is because they have not been taught it in school.   Neither was I.  That must change.

Regrettably, the republican election process the Founders established was distorted with the formation of an ”Electoral College”  which was taken over by political parties/factions.  It was then nearly totally abandoned with the addition of Primary elections, creating a representative democracy and leaving the original intent of the constitution – a republican form of government –  ”hanging by a thread” – not to mention the addition of the 17th Amendment, referenced within this editorial. 

Now the Electoral College is under attack by those who would like to repeal it and replace it altogether with  a pure democracy achieved by the direct vote of the people –  a “national popular vote”  – and the abuse of initiative and referendum to over-rule elected representative officials’ decisions at will.  Such was the unanimous vote of the Utah PTA in May 2008, another evidence that Americans simply have not been taught correct constitutional principles.

If the American people want to bury the republic once and for all, they can do so by taking these steps to repeal the caucus system and replace it with a Primary system, followed by a national popular vote.  Then Utah will join all the other Primary states in their rush toward pure democracy, which inevitably becomes an oligarchy, or rule by the rich and elite.  Our founders understood that oligarchies always meet their own demise in tyranny and have violent and bloody deaths. 

Am I alone in noticing that our elected officials are already engaged in oligarchical governance patterns?  To quote John Adams’ lyrics from the show 1776, “Is anybody there?  Does anybody care?  Does anybody see what I see?” I’ve been “singing this song” for three decades now.  I know of only a few who are truly aware of how that miracle of September 17, 1787 has been undermined by well-meaning citizens who do not understand the unintended consequences of their advocacy.  — Cherilyn Eagar

Utah’s Caucus-Convention Exemplifies Constitutional Wisdom

Utah’s “caucus-convention” election system is under attack. Some say it is a closed, controlled and unfair system, only allowing a select few to participate by requiring party registration and attracting the extremes of both parties. 

Conversely, many constitutional experts would agree that this is the best and most constitutionally-correct system of all today. The Utah caucus-convention approach is inherently grassroots, defined by the citizens who show up and not by those who choose to stay home. 

With each neighborhood divided into precincts, a “caucus” meeting is publicly announced and held for each precinct. Any citizen may attend, and delegates are elected. The only requirement is that citizens must register with the party caucus they attend; they can even cross party lines to influence their neighborhood caucus.

After delegates are elected by majority vote, they attend and vote at the county or state convention to which they were elected. A delegate’s duty is to study the candidates and issues, to report to their neighborhood precinct with recommendations and then to cast their vote(s) accordingly at the convention. The candidate who achieves 60 percent of the vote at the convention then becomes the party’s nominee for mid-term or general election. If no candidate emerges with a super-majority, a run-off (Utah’s version of a “Primary”) is held between the party’s top two contenders. 

This system much more closely mirrors the representative, vertical balance of power the Framers intended for the States in comparison to a popular vote – direct democracy.  However, it departs from original intent for the Senate, meant to be selected by a representative body (the state legislature) and the House was to be elected by popular vote.  Representation is the trademark of a republican form of government, and one which the Framers felt would best guard against tyranny. In The Jeffersonian Cyclopedia, No. 1685, p. 193, Thomas Jefferson wrote, “The Constitution was meant to be republican, and we believe it to be republican according to every candid interpretation.” 

The average U.S. citizen typically lacks time to study the issues and candidates as thoroughly as a precinct-elected delegate, who subsequently is entrusted to produce more informed choices.

The Framers would not have approved of the current incumbent career politicians who get automatic annual pay raises, perks and multi-million dollar pension plans. It is easier and less expensive for citizens and candidates to unseat an incumbent via the precinct caucus-convention approach.  It’s a healthy concept, but not popular among career politicians who have become accustomed to drinking from the trough of Washington’s special interests.

In Primary election states, choices are made through a more “direct democracy” approach — a concept the Framers despised because of its tyrannical track record.  Candidates are required to spend millions to get their messages out to the voters. This typically restricts the election to millionaires and/or to incumbents who have massive campaign war chests funded by special interests, usually from out of state.  It also limits the voters’ candidate exposure to superficial 30-second media sound bites.  That system encourages an oligarchy.

The Framers believed in elections by the majority.  But take a look at California’s upcoming Primary:  With 12 U.S. Senate candidates on the California Primary ballot, will the majority even elect the nominee?

For Federal office, Utah has two Republican U.S. Senate candidates and two Democratic Congressional candidates in the Primary run-off election. They have been more carefully selected through this wise election process. It is now up to Republicans and Democrats to decide who will be Utah’s next Congressional nominees in the November mid-term election. 

Citizens in a free republic must be vigilent and actively engaged or they will lose the republic, as the U.S. has nearly done.  But it can be restored and that is our responsibility to make it happen in the upcoming elections.  Now is the time to get involved in these important decisions. I encourage you to listen to the candidates individually, check out their websites, talk to supporters and opponents and then cast a thoughtful vote on Election Day. 

Cherilyn Eagar is a former U.S. Senate candidate (R-UT) 2010 and the Vice President of WebsTarget, a Salt Lake City-based real estate Internet marketing company.  She is a Republican state delegate who also serves on the Utah Federation of Republican Women Board, is the National Chair of Constitutional Studies for Eagle Forum, the Utah Coordinator for the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons and has consulted, managed and volunteered on political campaigns in five states since 1964.