"I'm either getting 'smarter' or older (easy choice....older). None of the current candidates are really very appealing to me. I'm disenchanted with my 'choices' and will be even more disenchanted this time next year. Issues are 'debated' in 15 second commercials or in 1.5 minutes at televised 'debates.' Every quarter we hear about how much money everyone has raised, so crucial to getting your message out about the issues......which are, of course, lost in the media frenzy of who's favored in polls. Now [Obama's] 'free speech' is controlled? I feel like politics is but a play/movie. Aren't all campaigns won or lost by the team behind the candidate more so than the candidate themselves?"
From start to finish, the election system has failed us for over seven years. But aside from riggable machines and billion dollar attack ad budgets, the factor separating voters from all real clout is the labyrinth comprised of regional and local party bosses, state delegates (that pesky electoral college), campaign liaisons loaded with cash, the so-called 'free press' and shadowy donor groups, themselves comprised of Special Interests, PACs, defense contractors and the lobbyists who love them. Basically the same hawks who have bought the sitting Congress so effectively. These hoods are separating you, dear voter, from almost any influence you might have over choosing our elected leaders - provided you buy into their system and register with a party.
The super-duper-callafragillistic primary day states are all blatantly stealing voter power from Americans all over by jockeying for earlier positions. When the candidates spend time in your state, they spend loot: local TV and print media, wonks, banner printers you name it. Local party staffs swell in size and the "walking around money" is passed out more freely then the shrink-wrapped skids of cash in Iraq. They talk to local industry, labor, governors, mayors, kissing babies till their lips are chapped. Because of this, competition between states has escalated beyond the ridiculous.
Party bosses in Michigan and Florida have agreed to candidate black-outs in exchange for internal concessions. That means your favorite candidate may never come to your state, nor will your primary vote be tallied. But you can buy face time if you are making major contributions. Believe it or not, this is the face of the political parties. This is Democracy American Style - the same brand we are pushing onto other countries by force.
The maze of "state committees" controlling party rules are rarely covered by the press. With dozens of them hiding behind titles and confusing hierarchies, few are ever accounted for. These are the same groups who brought us voter disenfranchisement in 2004 and 2000, the 1990s Pan-Asian donor scams and much more.
Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, formerly allowed free run of the early primaries because of their traditionally cute, "homey" state status are now looked at with scorn by states like Tennessee, Wyoming, Michigan and Florida who tried to move up their primary dates to increase their voice (and pull in the free-flowing early-season campaign dough. As a result of these states negotiations, your vote cast may never translate to an actual delegate executing your wishes during nomination. The deal has been made ahead of time. 1984 taught us this when Gary Hart and Jesse Jackson pressured Walter Mondale's camp for concessions, Orwell laughing in his grave. RNC bosses have cut a deal that limits by half the delegates of any state that votes before Feb 5. DNC bosses threatened Florida and Michigan that moving up their primaries would result in no visits by candidates at all (except at in-person fundraising events). That sound you hear right now is the back-room door creaking closed, with frontrunning candidates inching closer to their respective party bosses to learn what it really takes to win in their district.
Even Supreme Court challenges have upheld the rights of parties to set their own rules (so far). With this in mind, ask yourself what you're getting in exchange for registering with one of these parties. You have no voice in the organization or running of the party at any level, and in the end your vote goes only where they want, if at all. The current Congress, specifically elected to end the war and sweep out corruption has failed to respond to clearly-defined voter sentiment.
Perhaps the one thing you can do is abstain and make the candidates address you with some respect.
Ironically, independent voters are often most highly coveted anyway. Don't give your voter mojo away!
GW is a proud American from NY State, concerned about ethics issues, media manipulation and overconsumption. He has recently changed careers to become an inner city schoolteacher. A firm proponent of curbing overpopulation and international adoption, he hopes to adopt a third child and enjoys history, outsider art, garage rock music and rare/unusual vinyl records.
Don't we give up the opportunity to choose the candidate if we don't reigster for the primaries? That's what I thought. If that is not the case, please tell me.
by
Caronome (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 190 comments)
on Wednesday, October 10, 2007 at 10:19:43 AM
In many states you do not have to register with a party to vote in the primary.
When you do vote in these states during the primaries the DNC or RNC claim you as one of "theirs".
Few primaries are held for independents. By not voting in the primary they can not claim you as one of "theirs". When I vote in a primary I pick the party ticket I want to disrupt and advise my friends and family to do the same.
by
Gallaher (2 articles, 0 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 493 comments)
on Wednesday, October 10, 2007 at 5:07:41 PM
The DNC and RNC nominate the candidates you get to vote for in the general election, not the voters. I know it seems like you choose them by voting in the primaries, but your choices have been so molded, massaged and shaped by the party by that point, it's essentially all predetermined.
Money means the most, for starters - if a candidate doesn't fund general party coffers, they go nowhere. This is a bad starting point, but it gets worse. Next we have the influence of powerful Congressional leaders shaping the races via endorsements, co-sponsorships, redistricting, pork, voting legislation, etc. - exactly the people we want to vote out of office for corruption and ineffectiveness, plotting our future.
Ultimately, in the general election, the delegates in the electoral college don't necessarily have to follow the vote, so really what say do you have?
Think about the largest issues stinking up US politics today - campaign cash, corporate influence, cronyism, etc. All flow through the parties who are agenda-driven and are simply looking to retrofit the right candidate to match.
Today DC is all about self-preservation, keeping power in the hands of the powerful. The parties are the ultimate tool for this, built into the system only by tradition, but nowhere mentioned in our Constitution. In fact, our second president John Adams was the first to be pushed out by emerging party forces and predicted "black clouds" over our country if the two-party system was to take root. I'd say he was right on the mark. Our parties are today the biggest obstacle to free, equitable choice of viable candidates.
The DNC will choose our nominee based on their criteria - war profiteering, economic policies, favors and cold, hard cash. But at least they don't bankroll disenfranchisement and phone jamming, so they remain the lesser of two evils.
You believe the DNC is our best and only hope - I believe it's time for an honest candidate to sweep out all the corruption, including Democrats. You may vote for a frontrunner with the best chance of winning it all - I can understand why you do so - fear - but I will vote for the most honest candidate I can find, so history will record the number of people who resisted this broken system.
by
Gustav Wynn (46 articles, 32 quicklinks, 5 diaries, 222 comments)
on Wednesday, October 10, 2007 at 7:58:20 PM
I have never seen an article on Op-Ed News that I disagreed with more wholeheartedly.
I am not happy with the electoral system in the United States. I think it is outdated, corrupt and badly in need of a major overhaul. But for now it is the electoral system that we have and it cannot simply be wished away.
The U.S. has a two-party, winner take all electoral system. Most of the rest of the world has found better ways to elect officials, but we are still living with what was the state of the art near the end of the 18th century. For now we have to make the most of it. With the system we have, the most important national elections are the primaries. It is the primaries where there is a chance for some discussion of issues and some participation is possible by minority voices.
In most states, it is impossible to vote in these all-important primaries if you are not a member of a party. Don't do it just to make some theoretical point.
by
PrMaine (8 articles, 4 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 241 comments)
on Wednesday, October 10, 2007 at 10:44:56 AM
If no one votes in the primaries then none of the Republican or Democratic Party candidates would be eligible to run in the general election. The Dems and Repubs must first win the primaries and caucuses so each party can nominate a candidate to run in the general election. If everyone registers as an independent then only those in open primary states would be able to vote in the primaries. Less than half the states are open primary states.
by
Ty Shlackman (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 572 comments)
on Wednesday, October 10, 2007 at 11:40:32 AM
Which is more likely, that cats might grow wings or that everyone will pass up the Democratic and Republican primaries? I think I'd place my money on the cats, but would expect the bet never to be settled. The probability of either seems vanishingly small.
by
PrMaine (8 articles, 4 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 241 comments)
on Wednesday, October 10, 2007 at 3:48:35 PM
I'd prefer my candidates to run as independents, foregoing the need for primaries and any strings to party bosses and enormous DNC donors.
If a kook like Ross Perot got 19% of the popular vote in 1992, this is entirely in the realm of the possible.
I'm not saying don't have discusions and listen to minority voices, I'm just saying don't register with a party unless they tie the final nominee to the popular vote first, in writing, making the winner the choice of the people.
They won't - why would anyone with the power to choose the nominee give it up or leave it to the fickle public? Dems are already excluding Kucinich from events on technicalities and clearly are in favor of extending this war despite everything the people and net roots did in '06.
If the system is as you say, in need of an overhaul, why are you relying on our children to do it? Fear? Complacency? You can make the most of the current system, but I think we should try to make the most of our country.
It's fixed, I tell ya.
by
Gustav Wynn (46 articles, 32 quicklinks, 5 diaries, 222 comments)
on Wednesday, October 10, 2007 at 8:38:34 PM
