I don't know about you, but I'll be up late, watching the returns. It is unlikely that Hillary or Obama will clearly win. That's because they are splitting the delegates in all the most important states.
One thing that really bothers me is how the superdelegates have such a huge influence on the final outcome. Even if, let's say, Obama was up by 200 or even 300 delegates, the superdelegates could swing the election so Hillary won. The party insiders have WAY too much influence on the primary.
Back in 2006, I saw, clearly, how big an influence the party machine had on primaries. I think it's bad for democracy and bad for the Democratic party. I actually feel that the policy the Republicans have, giving all the delegates in a state to one candidate, has some advantages, especially, since it weakens the successes of candidates and weakens the power of the delegates won in state primaries when put up against the superdelegates.
There are so many Democrats who are not happy with either Hillary or Obama-- most of the people who read OpEdNews.
One thing they agree on is the need to get the media out of politics, particularly charging for ads and deciding which candidates are eligible to participate in debates.
More things they agree with:
-We desperately need to clean up election laws
Take the money out, get rid of PACs, Third party advertisers, corporate input...
-Make sure that all votes are properly counted and recorded-- meaning no to e-voting,
-Make sure that all the people with rights to vote are allowed to vote, without problems with voter disenfranchisement
-Treat third parties and candidates equally. Don't make them have to step through more difficult paces to get on the ballot
-Include multiple choice, multiple candidate selection options, so people are able to vote with their hearts.
Between now and November, there will be a lot of time for all the Edwards, Kucinich, Gravel, Dodd, Biden and Richardson supporters to communicate to their incumbent legislators and primary contenders, in all the house and senate races, that they want the kinds of changes and corrections tot he problems mentioned above. I know I'll be making it VERY clear to my legislators and I'll do what it takes to do it in person, face to face. One thing about campaign season-- politicians are the most accessible then.
Oh-- one more thing. I'll be talking about impeachment and what they are going to do take the bil of rights and the constitution out of the toilet, where the 109th congress put it and where the 110th congress left it, for the most part.
