Posted by
Howard Denson III on Saturday, May 31, 2008 10:10:22 PM
I may be experiencing some of the same frustrations of other registered Democrats in Florida. Do you bow to the national party's manipulations or look seriously at the GOP candidate. I respect John McCain, but am wary of the Bushies to whom he may need to make promises. Mainly, however, I am furious with the National Democratic Party's total foul-up of the Florida primary. I am tempted to write in my own name just to spite Howard Dean and crowd.
I am told that my vote, one out of over a million, will only be half a vote -- just punishment some would say for Florida's violation of National Party rules for having an early primary.
That, of course, is baloney. The anti-Florida Nationals refer to the great value in the "tradition" of having early primaries in Iowa and New Hampshire. Since I have neckties older than that tradition, the position is nonsense. I would argue that a Republican legislature passed the statute for our early election, except that no Democrat opposed it in the Senate and only four opposed it in the House.
As long as there is not a national system of, say, four primary elections for all states, it should be up to the voters and legislatures of each state to decide when to have an election.
Another irritation is that so few individuals participated in the various caucuses. These are antiquated procedures useful in 19th Century America when voters would hitch up their buggies and meet at the school to figure out for whom to vote. In the 21st Century, it is frustrating when individuals argue that 20,000 caucus voters in a state will equal, and outweigh, the million-plus voters in a major state.
A national system of primaries, as proposed by Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), should require greater uniformity, at least for the Republican and Democratic parties, from whose ranks the presidency will be decided. Third parties historically have existed to educate voters about particular issues (which are then adopted by the GOP or the Democrats whenever a consensus emerges). They may use dart-games, dice, caucuses, or whatever, and it won't hurt the electorate.
Another bogus argument about today's political scene is that it's up to the convention and the delegates to decide who the nominees are. That was true during much of the 20th Century, but in the 1970s and afterwards the shift went more toward the conventions simply rubber-stamping whoever won the primaries. TV networks quit featuring day-long coverage, and then even prime-time coverage, because nothing really happened.
This election cycle seems to confirm the validity of Will Rogers' statement: "I'm not a member of an organized political party. I'm a Democrat."
Howard Denson