The Return of the Smoke-Filled Room

Every two years, the primary season is treated like a national referendum. Turnout maps are parsed, winners and losers declared, and sweeping conclusions drawn about "where the country is headed." But this ritual is built on a myth. The people who show up to vote in primaries are a small, unrepresentative fraction of America, and the elaborate theater we build around their choices obscures a much larger and more troubling story. For most of the country, the primary isn’t a preview of the real election. It is the election, and most were not invited to participate.