Trump Endorses Jennifer Balkcom for North Carolina's 11th Congressional District

The takes

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  Adam Smith

  1723–1790, Scotland (the Scottish Enlightenment: Kirkcaldy, Glasgow, Edinburgh)

  Political Endorsements Are Not Miracles, They Are Markets

  A celebrated figure blessing a new candidate in North Carolina’s 11th District is less an act of civic piety than a bid in a crowded political marketplace, with costs the public must count as carefully as any trader’s bill.

  A well-known political leader has lately announced, with great honour and warmer adjectives, an endorsement of a new candidate to represent North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District, after the previous nominee ended a re‑election bid. The candidate, in turn, declares herself incredibly grateful, proud to fight for the people of Western North Carolina, eager to make life more affordable for hardworking families, and to rebuild after a recent disaster. Nothing in this exchange is unusual: one offers his name and influence, the other offers loyalty and slogans of public service. Yet what passes in a moment on a public platform is in truth a contract of some intricacy, in which both parties seek advantage under the applauding cover of patriotism.

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• 

  John Locke

  1632–1704, England (writing amid the Exclusion Crisis and the Glorious Revolution)

  Endorsements, Consent, and the Boundary of Legitimate Influence

  A former ruler’s blessing on a new candidate is not itself usurpation, but it becomes dangerous the moment it crowds out the people’s free and equal judgment.

  A former chief magistrate has announced, on a platform unknown in my age but plain in its effect, that it is his “Great Honor to endorse America First Patriot, Jennifer Balkcom, who is running to represent the wonderful people of North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District.” The sitting representative, having once enjoyed this same man’s favor, has now withdrawn his bid for re‑election, and Ms. Balkcom stands as the new nominee of her party. She replies with gratitude, professing herself ready to fight for the people of Western North Carolina, to rebuild after a calamity called Helene, and to ease the burdens of families. Thus the drama of trust and power, which I once traced in kings and parliaments, is now played out in parties and posts.

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• 

  Niccolò Machiavelli

  1469–1527, Florence (republican secretary and diplomat, then exile, amid the Italian Wars)

  Trump’s Proxy Play in North Carolina Shows How Princes Outlive Their Offices

  By seizing the vacancy in North Carolina’s 11th District and clothing Jennifer Balkcom in his colors, Trump behaves as a prince who intends to rule through others long after he has left the palace door.

  A sitting congressman wins his party’s primary in March, then in August abandons his re‑election run. Into that hole steps a new Republican nominee, Jennifer Balkcom. Onto her, almost at once, descends the benediction of a former president: on his own platform he calls it his “Great Honor” to endorse her, praises her as an “America First Patriot,” and ties her openly to the “wonderful people” of North Carolina’s 11th District. She replies that she is “incredibly grateful” and “proud to stand and fight for the people of Western North Carolina.” You call this a campaign story. I call it a lesson in how a prince survives through other bodies.

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