The Rise of the Kooks, the Fall of the Gatekeepers

Some kooks with sex scandals, securities fraud, and outlandish tweets are winning primaries and even congressional seats. Why are these ideological crackpots winning? And where are the party gatekeepers? On today’s podcast, Jay and Sean discuss how a centuries-long precedent of (primarily) electing the righteous is slowly falling prey to populism. In this podcast, our hosts discuss how the McGovern-Fraser Commission of 1968 may have increased democratic participation in primaries, but at the same time allowed political outsiders and some unique kooks to rise to power. Furthermore, the 1974 amendments to the Federal Election Campaign Act—although they limited the political power of rich donors—took power away from the parties to fund well-vetted candidates themselves. Remember to rate and follow Stubborn Things and stay up to date by following us on X @aei_STpodcast. Comments? Suggestions? Email us at StubbornThings@aei.org.