Many of us feel that our elected representatives and candidates are out of touch with the needs of all the American people. The United States is a representative democracy, but it sometimes feels like the people are not represented at all. If you feel this way, you aren’t crazy. It feels like our candidates and officials do not represent the people because they more often represent the vested interests of those who put them into power.
In her book, A Choice Not an Echo, Phyllis Schlafly wrote about the Kingmakers. The Kingmakers meet in smoke-filled rooms to pick the presidential candidate that best serves their private interests. This may sound like a conspiracy, and a far off one at that, but Phyllis had proof. In her book she details the meeting of the Bilderberg group on St. Simon’s Island, Georgia, down to who was there, what they ate, and who they called. The Kingmakers would destroy all their notes after their meetings, but not before letting the candidates know who was going to win, who was going to lose, and what they needed to do. The Kingmakers are composed of prominent politicians, CEOs, government experts, national security officials, and academics.
The Kingmakers exercise influence in both parties, by the way, but they are not beholden to the ideologies of the Democrats or the Republicans. Instead, the Democrats and Republicans are beholden to them. Throughout the 20th century, Phyllis pointed out how the Kingmakers held back tough-on-communism Republicans, always opting instead to give a moderate or losing candidate the nomination.
Phyllis pointed out that the majority of the Bilderberg group members leaned left in their political ideology, but they still had the most say in who the Republican presidential nominee would be.
The Bilderberg group is not just a neat historical fact. These Kingmakers still meet every single year down to today. This is why Phyllis emphasized the importance of choosing our nominee ourselves, and not just an echo of what has come before. This is how we re-assert the will of the people, instead of being trodden under by the Kingmakers.
Get A Choice Not An Echo: Updated and Expanded (2014)
This post originally appeared at https://www.phyllisschlafly.com/liberalism-and-conservatism/the-kingmakers/
