Oh
My
Gawd…
Ok everyone, it’s -15 here in Cleveland, Ohio. We’re expecting 5-8″ of global warming goodness tomorrow in addition to the balmy breeze that brings frostbite. SO, to keep us all from melting via Gore goodness, I bring you the continuing storrrrrrrrrrrry of the Democratic Party’s Presidential nomination process. [NOTE: this works best if you have some circus music in an mp3 playing in the background].
For those of you to numb from the stupidity (not the cold ’cause there is no cold-it’s “warming” in DNC newspeak)…here’s what’s happening:
- Senator Barack Obama has used his fantastic oratory skills to stir everyone who hears him, to get their support, their money, to do so without actually saying much, and without ever having done anything. In the course of doing so, he’s passed Senator Clinton in the delegate count, passed her in the popular vote, financially blowing her away (again, no wind chill analogy here, and not a slam on Clinton Presidential history either), he’s gathering momentum, and if the trends continue he will be near a tie with her at the DNC convention.
- Senator Clinton has fired her campaign manager, and as a demonstration of the “agent of change” mantra that she’s proclaimed, has hired her old time chief of staff from the years her husband was President. She’s still close to a tie in the delegate and popular votes with Senator Obama, and she’s done so without insulting his oratory skills, but rather complimenting them (probably since any word involving the root of “oral” just sets off her opponents and gets people like Rush Limbaugh downright orgasmic with glee).
So, will it come down to a delegate here or there when the convention rolls around? Will Washington D.C. or the U.S. Virgin Islands decide if an inexperienced (DNC newspeak for “unaccomplished”) Senator from Illinois gets the nomination, OR will Alaska and Hawaii determine if the carpetbagging Clinton/”agent of change” will be nominated to represent the Democratic Party in November? Well, neither. It comes down to a special group of 700+ people anointed by the Democratic Party’s incredibly complex set of special rules. These 700 people are more important than the people who campaigned and voted for either Senator Clinton or Senator Obama. The 700 are more important than the voters of Alaska, Hawaii, Washington D.C., the U.S. Virgin Islands, and a dozen other states all combined. The nomination will be determined by these anointed superdelegates.
This is where it gets fun. Do you know who these “superdelegate “people are? Do you know who the people are that will decide the nominee for the Democratic Party? Like I said, it’s not the voters. It’s people like:
- former President Carter,
- former Vice President Al Gore,
- former President Bill Clinton, and yes,
- Senator Clinton is a superdelegate too.
I dunno about you, but I get the biggest laugh in the world out of the idea that Jimmy Carter could decide who wins the nomination for the Democratic Party. Given the notorious bad blood between Vice President Al “That’s Hot” Gore and the Clintons (a vestige of the Monica Lewinsky affair), I find it funny to think that she could lose because of how she and her husband handled (no pun intended) his infidelity and dishonorable deeds.
As someone who is a registered Democrat, traditionally voted Democrat, but is clearly a national security conservative, I have raged for years that the Democratic Party is beholden to elitist power brokers bent on partisan domination rather than patriotic dedication. To that end, I find it sad and funny (in a dark humor kinda way) that the nomination of the Democratic Party could go to Senator Clinton based on the votes of her husband, and herself rather than the will of Democrats as expressed in total votes and committed delegate votes. Such an action would divide the party and unequivocally point out the true nature of what it has become in the past 20yrs. Things need to change in the DNC, and this might be the only way.
The funny part? It’s simple. Check out the list of who the superdelegates are, and the list of uncommitted superdelegates. If that doesn’t make one snarf coffee on their monitor, I don’t know what would.
Stay warm
Author of “Reparations and America’s 2nd Civil War
Reparations and America’s 2nd Civil War: Malensek, Scott: 9798864028674: Amazon.com: Books
I have been wondering what happens if Obama gets the popular vote but Clinton wins with the delegate count. Do Democrats that supported Obama then get mad and not vote ?
And what impact does it have on the party if the DNC tries to forces a Clinton/Obama ticket ?
I see no good out come for either party this year.
First the delegates gathered from all the primaries are tallied, and that’s likely to be near a tie, but one candidate or the other will be ahead. Then the superdelegates choose sides, and it is they who will determine which candidate gets the nomination. They can choose whoever they want. They are not bound to represent anyone or to respect anyone’s vote. Senator Clinton doesn’t have to vote according to how the people of New York voted. Dick Durbin doesn’t have to vote according to how the people of Illinois vote. The superdelegates will decide who gets the nomination-not the people who voted in primaries and caucuses.
Now, if one candidate has more elected delegates from primaries and caucuses, that should influence the superdelegates to vote for that candidate, and if one candidate or the other has more popular votes overall, then superdelegates should vote for that candidate, but in both cases the superdelegates are not bound to doing so. They can vote however they want. If Sen Obama promises to make VP Gore UN ambassador, and that’s enough to buy Al Gore’s vote as a superdelegate, then he can do that. If fmr President Carter would like to move up from habitat for humanity to Sec of Housing, and Sen Clinton promises him that job if elected, his vote as a superdelegate can be bought as well. The superdelegates will barter, trade, haggle for their votes. Obama’s campaign and Clinton’s campaign will be calling in favors from the past, making promises for the future, and doing everything they can to beg, borrow, bribe, steal superdelegates, and that is now how the Democratic nomination will be decided (despite my vote for Senator Obama in Ohio’s upcoming primary next month).
There are only three ways to stop it
1) Sen Obama drops out-not likely
2) Sen Clinton drops out-not likely
3) Sen Clinton wins enough delegates in the remaining states to offset the number of superdelegates-not likely since she’d have to win almost everything, and the trend is towards her winning less and less.
to be clear, the nomination will be decided (is being decided right now) by the 700 superdelegates….not the people who support the Democratic Party, but by its establishment.
‘to be clear, the nomination will be decided (is being decided right now) by the 700 superdelegates….not the people who support the Democratic Party, but by its establishment.”
I understand this, my question is do the voters understand this and how do you think they will react when there pick is not the nominee?
I speculate that if Obama gets the most votes ( popular vote) and Clinton wins with delegates that alot of voters are going to be very angry and there will be a backlash.
Much has been written about the problems that the Republican party is having between conservatives and McCain but not much on what is happening on the Democratic side.
If after the dust settles both parties are fractured by in fighting all Americans lose.
Superdelegatski! The Demokratki Politburo stands ready to assist the Party’s Glorious Leadership Central Committee — when is the big parade in Guantanamo Square? Onward Comrads!
Here’s some circus music:
http://www.billsrailroad.net/bills-music/circus-parade.mid
Beware! Democrats are only too aware of the problem of a nasty convention between Obama and Hillary. Watch out for the Dream Ticket of Hillary/Obama. If that happens, the news media will go on for months as if it was the second coming and they cared.
Thanks for the music Mike!
I don’t see people reacting well to a Hillary/Obama or Obama/Hillary ticket. Neither group of supporters, and neither candidate seem willing to accept the role of second in line/president of the senate/mall-opener-in-chief/ribbon-cutter-extraordinaire.
How do people feel about it? In keeping with the stereotype, my friends and family who are Democrats are in disbelief, frustrated, and in denial. There’s a lot of “let’s hope it doesn’t come to that” even though it already has. There’s also a lot of “hopefully the superdelegates will follow the will of the people,” but call me cynical, apathetic, untrusting, or anything like that. I just don’t see the DNC establishment bowing to either the will of the people or the interests of the nation before doing anything and everything they can to get more power for themselves. To do so would be out of character, inconsistent with history, and in contradiction to the same trend that has almost all of those superdelegates still claiming that the war in Iraq has nothing to do with the war against Al Queda or that the war in Iraq is lost, etc. Nah, Steve Forbes said it best yesterday, it’s a brokered convention before the convention. The deal-making is going on right now so it can all be settled before the convention, and then the DNC can use the convention as a photo op for unification.
Ask the people who vote for Democrats what the solution is, and we get pipedreams that are contrary to the nature of the superdelegates’ personalities and actions as professional power-brokers and politicians.
OH MAN DOES THIS READ BETTER WITH MIKE’S MUSIC PLAYING IN THE BACKGROUND!!!
(rubbing hands) Mwuahahahahaha!!
Show Elections are important to the Politburo, later we will award the jobs and titles as the Party sees fit.
It is also possible that the super delegates will choose based on who they feel is the most electable.
We have to remember that the USA is not a democracy it is a republic, some votes just don’t count in some parties. for instance, Idaho for the Democrats, or New York for the Republicans.
If the Democrats hope to win in 2008 they would be best served in nominating the candidate that can do best in the important swing states/battleground states. One of the problems for the Republicans is that McCain has won many of his delegates in states like CA and NY where he will have little chance of winning in Nov.
Then why have primaries and caucuses at all, John? Why not just have one big national poll?
Yes indeed, the US is not a Democracy, especially here in the People’s Republic of California. Would someone please invade us and set us free? Our economy is tanking like Hugo Chavez’s, with rich people fleeing to Frete states causing declining job-growth, and through over-regulation and over-spending, under the Rhinocrat Shwarzzenkennedy it’s now worse than when we re-called the last crappy Governor…
“Free” (cough)
You know it.
I pray that they choose Hillary tho, we need her to get that nomination to ensure the Republican gets in.
I disagree Curt. She has to be defeated and put out to pasture as quickly as possible. Until she is driven from the 2008 election there will be a constant threat of her actually getting to be President. To that end I really do plan on voting for Senator Obama in the Ohio primary. Every little bit helps.
Obama is just as dangerous as she is, but he has a better chance of winning the general since he isn’t running on anything….just hope. With her as the nominee we can be pretty certain that she will lose the general.
facts to keep in mind:
Hillary will NEVER accept a vp slot. She’s way to arrogant, has invested her life in the #1, and to accept the vp slot is to accept defeat-something she and her crew are incapable of doing.
Barack is likely to win the popular vote in the DNC, win the most primaries and caucuses, and win the most committed delegates. If he does, there’s no way and no reason he should accept a vp slot.
In both cases, the Dems will want someone to counter McCain’s biggest selling point: national security, and Gen Clark has already been very clear that he’d be interested in that (O’Reilly Factor a few months back he was clearly interested and willing regardless of the candidate).
SO, get rid of the Hillary/Obama nightmares and the Obama/Hillary fantasies. It’s most likely (at this point) to be:
Obama/Clark
Clinton/Clark
Clinton/Clark is the best situation for Republicans as they can just run hog wild with examples of fubars and scandals etc from the 90’s (to say nothing of how Hillary is still waiting for judgement from the FEC/DOJ re her senate campaign finance fraud punishment)
Obama/Clark…yeah, that could be bad for Republicans.
Would be bad for Republicans and the country…..a nightmare really.
I’m taking bets on the exact time and date that the Clintons steal the nomination. get all the delegates you can Barack, but it wont do you any good, Hillery has spoken so let it be.
Clark… The man who almost started WWIII in Kosovo (and off the coast of Albania) in 1999…. Lovely… One more in a VERY long lists of reasons NOT to vote Democrat.