Today is the date of the New Hampshire presidential primary elections. This quadrennial event causes me to reflect on American democracy.

Some people tell us that the United States of America is a true meritocracy, where only the most capable and talented people rise to the most prominent political positions.

By contrast, Teresa Nielsen Hayden tells us: “Never believe in a meritocracy in which no one is funny-looking.”

If Nielsen-Hayden if right, United States presidential politics is not a meritocracy.