My off-the-top reaction was the pollsters’ adage, “There are no independents, only people who like to think of themselves that way.” And I have to admit I spent my reading time chuckling and saying, “C’mon, man” (“man” being used here in its genderless exclamatory form), and thinking you should relax or those pearls you’re clutching are going to shatter.

But upon reflection, I think it’s perhaps (1) you are considerably younger than I; (2) you haven’t thought it through, and (3) if I shot you up with truth serum, I’d discover you’re a conservative who will probably vote for Tr*mp in the end.

Obviously, #3 is reckless speculation, so no need to dwell on that. For me, I’ve never voted for any Republican for any office in 40+ years. Not because I’m a Democratic partisan but because I find the conservative agenda loathsome. The Dems aren’t great and are weak as a kitten, but that’s politics in a two-party system.

The “younger” bit comes in with your ideas about primaries: I’ve lived through every president from Reagan onward, and the only candidate who wasn’t either an incumbent or was “shoved down their throats by power brokers and behind-the-scenes financiers” was Trump in ’16. Even then, they tried desperately until the 11th hour before capitulating. But the GOP has been letting the clowns into the car for a long time. They were going to seize the wheel at some point.

Otherwise, that’s how primaries always work. It’s not necessarily a good thing, but it is a thing. So, it’s too unremarkable to dwell on.

Biden did step aside in the only way someone stubborn and prideful enough to be president can do so — under pressure. But he has fully endorsed Harris, so it’s not for the rest of us to say.

But c’mon, man — of course they chose Harris. Was there ever a question? That has to be the least surprising thing in 21st-century politics. There might well be better candidates, but when the candidate drops out right before the convention, they’d almost inevitably choose the VP. And we’ve heard little complaining. So again, too unremarkable to dwell on.

Now, addressing what you see as the most significant point: the issue of a second primary is moot.

See it with unbiased eyes: logistics, finances, and time. There was never going to be another primary because there’s no way to put one together before the convention. Primaries are intense processes that take a $#!+ton of time, money, and organization — there was zero chance they could pull it off. The option would be an open convention, but that wouldn’t have been democratic either. So they got on board behind the VP, and Democrats seem happy with the result.

Ideal? No. But entirely predictable and uninteresting. Unless you want to engage in the right-wing conspiracy theory that this was the plan all along. But I’ve watched politics for a long time, and the DNC can barely organize a birthday party. I suspect the Republicans are projecting as they are wont to do. In the end, I’m an Occam’s Razor guy: when in doubt, go with the simplest solution. Conspiracies aren’t my thing.

To the question, “Where were your ‘rest of us’ in the Democratic primary?” it should be clear that was never my point. The Democratic Party is the most democratic party and always has been. In a diverse and rapidly diversifying country, the GOP is a party consisting almost entirely of straight white Christians. The Dems must represent everybody else, so they’re chaotic.

The old line was “Democrats fall in love, Republicans fall in line,” which is why the pundits are so weirded out by the parties behaving abnormally.

But what I meant was that, unlike the Dems, Tr*mp and his party are a threat to democracy in any form. They want to end the American experiment, and that’s not a conspiracy theory because they’ve been quite clear on it.

I might vote GOP if you put a literal gun to my head, but otherwise, no. It’s not a party thing. It’s an “I don’t want an American Orbán” situation.