If Americans are to believe that anyone can become president—constitutional exclusions and caveats aside—then maybe it is also useful to demonstrate that anyone can not-become president, as Eric Swalwell did today. To have known that Eric Swalwell was running for president, before his announcement that he is no longer running for president, required a commitment to accumulating facts about politics that was frankly incompatible with democracy. Was he in one of the debates? Was he not? If the exercise of self-government required a person to be aware that Eric Swalwell existed and had declared his candidacy, then it would be impossible for an ordinary citizen to live an ordinary life. Remember Eric Swalwell as a monument to democratic ideals, by forgetting him all over again.
