“Democracy.” That oft-spoken word in our political lexicon has been elevated to almost sacred status. And woe to anyone who dares say anything derogatory about democracy — or (worse still) is deemed a threat to democracy. Hyperbole? Anyone paying even cursory attention to the news this election cycle knows otherwise.

Consider, for just one example, President Joe Biden’s strong defense of the “sacred cause” of democracy when he spoke near Valley Forge on January 5 of this year to mark, one day early, the third anniversary of the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol. Valley Forge, Biden observed, “tells the story of the pain and the suffering and the true patriotism it took to make America.” But on January 6, he said, “we nearly lost America — lost it all.”

Biden continued: “Today, we’re here to answer the most important of questions. Is democracy still America’s sacred cause? I mean it. This is not rhetorical, academic, or hypothetical. Whether democracy is still America’s sacred cause is the most urgent question of our time, and it’s what the 2024 election is all about.”

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