There is an old biblical phrase thar seems strangely appropriate to what may be happening inside the New Hampshire Democratic Party: “whitewashed tombs.”
The outside looks respectable. The institution has its leadership, its meetings, its machinery and its familiar faces. But what is happening inside?
I recently wrote to leadership of the Party asking for something that should be fundamental to any political party that claims to believe in democracy: a debate between Democratic candidates for the United States Senate.
I received no answer. When I contacted the party office, I was told that someone would look into it. I hope they do. But the slience itself is troubling.
Why shouldn’t Democratic voters have the opportunity to see the candidates stand together and answer the same questions?
A debate doesn’t belong to a party chairman. It doesn’t belong to party insiders. It belongs to voters.
And this brings me to a larger concern. Ray Buckley has been chairman of the state Democratic Party for an extraordinary length of time and is seeking yet another two-year term. At some point, longevity itself becomes a legitimate subject for public discussion.
Political organizations can become comfortable. Leaders can become accustomed to the same people, the same procedures and the same assumptions. Eventually, an organization can become more concerned with maintaining its structure than challenging itself.
Thus is dangerous for any political party.
Democrats cannot complain that voters are losing faith in politics while simultaneously making political decisions behind closed doors or failing to give voters meaningful opportunities to hear competing candidates.
If the Democratic Party believes one candidate is stronger than another, then let the voters see them together. Let them argue their positions. Let them answer difficult questions. Let the voters decide.
What is there to fear?
The New Hampshire Democratic Party does not belong to its chairman. It does not belong to its officers. It does not belong to its established political class.
It belongs to the voters.
And voters have every right to ask whether a party has been led by the same leadership for so long is still challenging itself — or simply protecting the institution it has built.
That is why the debate matters. It is not merely about two candidates standing on a stage. It is about whether the Democratic Party still trusts its own voters enough to let them see, hear and judge for themselves.
We should demand more from our political parties.
We should demand transparency. We should demand competition. We should demand that new voices be given a fair opportunity to be heard.
Otherwise, we risk becoming exactly what we claim to oppose: a political establishment more interested in preserving itself than listening to the people it supposedly represents.
Whitewashed tombs may look impressive from the outside. But democracy cannot survive on appearances.
It requires something alive inside.
George Maloof is a professor at Plymouth State College. He lives in Plymouth.