Friday, February 22, 2008

Fit-Pitching in the Land of the Free and Home of the Power Hungry

Democrats are preparing to do what they do best: self-destruct in the face of success. They just can’t seem to help themselves. The excitement of a possible landslide against Republicans is like a fresh steak and the dogs can’t help but fight over it, rather than share. We left-learning do-gooders get caught up in our own self-serving desire to get the credit for change, I guess.

She would be a good president, Hillary Clinton. I like her. I like them both. I liked all three of the top Democratic contenders. But the fact of the matter is that the person who wins the popular vote should be the nominee. The person with the most delegates should be the nominee. And here’s the thing that everyone else but Hillary seems to know: to circumvent that process is to disenfranchise the excited voters new to the process this year, further the rampant idea that our individual vote does not count, and finally it is to be dishonest. Starting off a campaign by cheating is some kind of bad foreshadowing folks.

Sniderman received an email from the Hillary camp, suggesting that the Superdelegates are the only persons who are capable of determining who is best for the United States.

“It's important that we respect the independent judgment of automatic (Super) delegates, who have the responsibility of casting a vote for the candidate they believe is best qualified to be president.”

Nice spin but I do not think most voters will fall for it. Americans have a sense of decency and fairness. Usurping the vote of an excited electorate by using smoky back room deals is politics as usual and most of us find it disgusting. In fact, these Big Boss decisions on our behalf are the reasons many people do not vote. Those same Big Bosses who vote against the people will likely find themselves out of job during the next election. I suspect they are figuring that out.

Rest assured that both candidates are courting the Super-Ds. Both Hillary and Barack wants to win. No doubt about it. Think back to the stealing of the presidency by George W. back in 2000. He won alright, but only thorugh back door politics and it set the stage for a horrible presidency and I am not prepared to allow the same thing to happen now.

We would not be talking about back door elections at all if delegates, superdelegates and the electoral college were not in place to begin with. These are antiquated policies. Each person in the US should have his or her vote count, and count equally, with every other person’s vote. Period. I really do not think that the Superdelegates are any smarter than any of us and I certainly do not think they are more honest or upstanding. Rich maybe, but not more ethical.

Here is how it stands as of today, according to CNN.com

Barack – 1,319 Delegates, 161 Superdelegates
Clinton – 1,250 Delegates, 234 Superdelegates

Regardless of who wins, the win needs to be above board and in the hands of the voters. I may have voted for Barack, but I like them both. If one of them wins by cheating, I will be very offended and hold that against them.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think you are a little off base using the terms "dishonest" and "cheating". While I agree that the election should be decided by the people, for whatever the reason, there are super delegates. Hillary is merely campaigning to obtain as many delegates and super delegates as she can...just like Barack. Hillary is merely working under the campaign laws and regulations we currently have. I think her campaign is merely saying that the super delegates must be respected as well. You're probably right, this current system may not be good for our country or for the excited new voters. But I do not believe Hillary is being "dishonest" or "cheating". I think you need to think about this a little more. And I think that the media is really sucking people into this king of thinking...that Hillary will do anything to be President. Of course she will, she's running for President just like any other candidate. I wonder if she isn't viewed this way "the power-hungary woman" because she is a woman? You know Barack is fighting hard to get those super delegates, too. She is not cheating. She is a serious, respectable contender.

Go Hillary and Barack!

Ms. Fat Jack

Betty B. said...

Many of these super delegates are elected officials. Obama has donated 694,000 to their campaign accounts, Hillary has donated 195,000 to super delegates (from a report dated 2/14/08).

So who is really putting the big twist on the super delgates. It seems like Obama is ears ahead in that department too.

Unknown said...

Jack,

I agree with your general premise on your post. I disagree with your overly partisan view of the 2000 election. It was won fairly by the Electoral College (which I am in favor of getting rid of). Florida recounted the vote for over a month. The Gore camp wanted the recount to continue again and again until they got the count they wanted. 20 recounts were enough. Even though President Bush's administration has lack a lot(and I do mean a lot), this is not the worst Presidency ever.

AnneBeck said...

Hang on there: I see that you are willing to go along with the status-quo and ignore (totally) two large states that Obama does not seem to care about; I am speaking of Florida and Michigan! Is disenfranchising them okay with you? IF you count the votes there, then Hillary IS still ahead... and, sorry, but, I believe their votes cast SHOULD be counted as should ALL of votes. Neither one; neither Hillary or Obmam has the delegate-count to win (yet) and, so, I say, let it play out. Otherwise, there's NO way that at least half of the dems will feel they counted. And, this is wrong and will be detrimental when November rolls around; are YOU prepared for more years of this?