Wednesday, March 5, 2008


My head is pounding. I feel quite nauseated. Everything seems to be spinning out of control. Then, in a moment of clarity, I understand the root cause for my illness: the democratic party nominee is going to be selected by the party's Superdelegates.

After endless primaries and caucuses, after learning that somehow a candidate could end up with more votes but less delegates, we are now left with the inevitable conclusion that our collective voices are being sublimated. We are all being subsumed by what is perceived to be back room politics. Secret meetings, vague promises and thoughts of personal gain is the scenario we all envision will now be played out .It appears certain that votes in the remaining primaries will have little or no effect on the determination of whether Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton eventually stands toe to toe against John McCain. How can this be?

It makes the entire process seem so imperfect and so meaningless. When we have cast our ballots in the primaries we did so with the belief that we would have a say in determining our party's candidate. What could be more democratic then permitting us to tell the politicians who they were going to be cheering at the party's convention? Now, that illusion has vanished

While John McCain and the Republican machine fill their coffers for the next 3 months, while they focus their party's attention on bringing the conservatives and evangelicals into the fold, while they create a national strategy to make sure the presidency remains with the Republican party, the Democrats are left to continue to battle among themselves. Millions and millions of dollars will be expended by the Obama and Clinton camps in an effort to find the one talking point that will give their candidate the edge in the remaining primaries. However, ultimately , the one truly remaining battle is to sway a sufficient number of Superdelegates to pledge allegiance to him or her.

I watched the political experts speak with glee in anticipation that the process of electing the democratic nominee is far from over. I, on the other hand, recoiled in horror and disgust. To know that it is a possibility that we may have to revisit Florida and Michigan to run the primaries over ,and thus give everyone an opportunity to have a voice in the process, is absurd. It is like putting a cherry on top of a piece of cake that has already been almost fully eaten. In reality, there is nothing left but to await the verdict of the Superdelegates. I , for one, don't want the party's nominee chosen by them. I don't want the voice taken out of my mouth or the vote taken out of my hands.

If one is to be rewarded for years of loyal service to a party, let it be with a gold watch or an invitation to the White House after that party's candidate is elected President. Let the reward not be a designation as a Superdelegate and an invitation to 'protect' the party from the populace making an error in the choice of nominee.

For now, I suggest a radical solution: let each vote in the primary count equally, count all the votes and the one with the most votes is the chosen candidate. I know this is almost impossible to conceive, but if this were to occur, I am positive my head and stomach would be eternally grateful.

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