Presidential hopefuls vying for a spot on Illinois’ March 19 primary ballot had to submit their nominating petitions to the State Board of Elections on Thursday or Friday. The loyalty pledge is not required but is a long-standing tradition that candidates undertake as part of that paperwork.
I have to say this pledge seems pretty stupid on the face of it. It’s origins come from a very anti democratic place and the logic of it makes no sense since if you were planning to forcibly overthrow the government through a secret plan that involved running in the primaries you’d hardly let the cat out of the bag by skipping it, you’d just make the pledge and then do it.
This guy skipping it is for sure an ominous sign but he already wanted everyone to know this and the ootional and pointless pledge is providing a convenient means for a political stunt which is ironic since a stupid political stunt is what it sounds like it always was to begin with when people were forced to start making it for similar theatre.
Not saying it’s not a concern though, it’s a worrying marker of the changes of the political landscape where deliberately signalling a desire for insurrection is a smart and shrewd political move that’s actually beneficial to a canditate when people point it out is a very dangerous place to be in.