In the wake of the 2016 Democratic Presidential Primaries, and the bruising fight for the chairmanship at the DNC, something called the “Democratic Unity Commission” was created. This should never have happened, as the Democratic Party does not have an internal “unity” problem- over 90% of Bernie Sanders supporters said they were supporting Hillary Clinton after the primaries ended last year. What’s even worse than a worthless commission though is when you allow that commission to start taking a look at the process of picking our nominee. It’s bad enough to give oxygen to the few, loud people on the left who didn’t support the Democratic nominee last year, it’s even worse to remake the party in their image.

The Democratic Party should stand up for the system by which we pick nominees, because that system works. It worked in 2008, and yes, it worked in 2016. It was not rigged, it was not faulty. Yes, it gave large influence to African-Americans and Latinos- as it should. The idea that we should eliminate “identity politics” from our party’s vocabulary at a time when a white nationalist is in the White House is insulting. Slanting the calendar towards early primaries in states where our primary electorate is majority minority, or at least largely minority, gives influence to the actual base of the Democratic Party- African-Americans and Latinos. If we’re not giving due influence to our base, why have a party?

The Democratic Party should also insure that registered Democrats are those voting, meaning all primaries should be closed. Look, picking a political party is a choice, no one forces you at gun point to join either party. If you choose to not join the Democratic Party, you maintain your right to choose your representatives in November, but you have forfeited your right to pick my nominees. Non-Democrats clearly either disagree with the Democratic Party’s positions or think we’re not worthy of their support, which in either case means they truly aren’t Democrats. The Democratic Party should respond in-kind by obliging their position. Aside from the fact that non-Democrats should not pick Democratic nominees, this isn’t the DNC Unity Commission’s place to decide- state legislators decide if their primaries are open or closed, and I am quite glad that my Pennsylvania legislators keep us closed. I’m fine with making registration very easy, even up to same-day changes, but if you want to pick my nominee, join my party.

The optics of defending our super-delegate system may be hard, but it is high-time the DNC did so. Elected Democrats are always going to want to be a part of the party’s convention. Under the current system, party leaders, Governors, Senators, Lt. Governors, Congressman and select others are automatically delegates to the National Convention, keeping them out of running in the process to be a delegate. If super-delegates were eliminated, these folks would run, and the average member of the public who wants to go to the convention would have no chance. The convention would be nothing but a meeting of the “insiders,” and we would shut off the public from the process. If people want to constrain them to voting as their constituents did, that’s fine, but it’s completely unnecessary- never have super-delegates over-turned the winner of the elected delegate results that people voted for in primaries. This is a solution in search of a problem.

The only thing the DNC should consider is reforming the caucus process. I don’t support eliminating events like the Iowa Caucus, but reforms need to be enacted to allow more Democrats to participate. An absentee system, moving them all to weekends or extending their time would all be measures that helped more people take part.

The Democratic Party should stop trying to cater to non-Democrats and start listening to their actual members. Being a Democrat is a choice, something that requires you filling out a piece of paper and sending it in. If you can’t or won’t do that much to join the party, you really shouldn’t be the priority in this process. While actual voter suppression methods, such as voter ID and consolidating voting locations are actually stopping some people from voting, we have no time to worry about some Jill Stein supporter that voted for Ralph Nader before too. If you want to pick the Democratic nominee, join the party. If you won’t join the party, wait your turn to choose a candidate in November, or start your own party.