Would definitely feel good being part of this type of dialogue.. a nice break from talking about relationships and shit..

Hey, man, typos in my own comments are the bane of my existence. Now I have this whole 'nother blog that I want to write about this election vis-a-vis "The West Wing," but it'll have to be tomorrow. I have to study for finals, AHHHH! I'm going to fail!

...Ahhhhhhhhhhh!

But I'll write Sam and ask him about the politics thing. I feel like it could be this Slate Magazine sort of thing. Where people email each other and respond, and then you publish that.

-om.

THEN the game continues.. god I hate when I do that.

I agree with you 100% on the DNC.. Total ineffectual morons..

As far as the Superdelegates go, ok I hear your feelings on it as a system, but if you're going to stick to 'the rules' vis a vis florida and michigan, then you have to stick to the rules down the line.. The superdelegates have to decide it if neither of them have the delegates..

Personally I don't see your football analogy, I don't think it's the same thing at all... The political process is far less black and white..

Now you support the SDs to go with 'the will of the people' and back obama.. At this point, I'm not there yet.. we have to see how these last few elections turn out. Now, if Obama blows Hilary away in these last contests, then even I would concede that of course 'he's the nominee'.. However, if he starts to bleed, and the people start to show signs of buyers remorse, then the SDs HAVE to take that into account.. that is their job.

I say.. we just have to wait it out 'til the end...

If Clinton wins Indiana by a good margin and makes North Carolina close.. than the game continues to the end..

So here's a hypo: NFL football - New York vs. New England.

The score New York - 37, New England - 36

...But the Patriots have the ball; they're driving... heading towards the New York end-zone... 4th quarter... time is running out...

And then, suddenly, everyone sits down on the field, and decides the game by playing... twiddlywinks. Or jacks. Or Tic-Tac-Toe. And then: Patriots win! Giants lose!

The superdelegate system is offensive -- and, I feel, should be offensive to all voters, because it has nothing to do with the rules of normal democracy. It completely upends the normal rules of voting at the very last second. It's not a long-standing system. It was creating in 1984 by the dumb-ass DNC to handle the Hart/Mondale kerfluffle. It's not in the Constitution. It makes no sense as rule, it's never been used like this before, and it'll surely be scrapped after this year.

I don't want Obama to win based on superdelegates either. How about... the person with the most votes wins? Makes sense, right? But the race is too close for that, and the system is fucked, so superdelegates have to come into play somehow. So hopefully they just neutralize themselves by going along with the voters.

But I would hope that if Obama was behind, and could not win the popular vote, that I would not be rooting for 100 some random Democratic officials to throw the election his way. And I pledge that if he falls behind in the vote, I will root for the superdelegates to choose Hillary. Anything thing else would be ridiculous. And I'm on record as saying this in my blog months ago, before Obama had ever locked up the popular vote.

As for Florida and Michigan... I'm almost ready to give them to Hillary, just so I never have to hear about them again. But Hillary supported not counting their votes. And they didn't get to hold actual elections with actual candidates on the ballot. And somehow, every single Democratic candidate managed to remove his name from the ballot except for Hillary, who -- didn't have the time? couldn't be bothered? ...She defended not removing her name at the time by saying "Since the results won't count, it doesn't matter if I leave my name on." Uh-huh. Every feel cynical much? Like she isn't always 100% telling the truth?

Florida and Michigan should have had their elections redone. But the DNC wouldn't pay for it. And I didn't hear Hillary offering to pay for it. Should Obama have paid for it, since he has more money? He's a nice guy, but I don't think that he's... that nice.

But as for the superdelegate system; it's totally offense. It's anti-democratic. As soon as the issue came up, all candidates should have pledged to abide by the popular vote, and nothing else. And fuck the DNC. I've worked with the DNC. Trust me when I say that they are not smart, they are not that nice, and they don't know what the fuck they're doing.

-oliver


p.s. back to you. or we can just do this on your comment section.

That's all well and good, but you leave out one important fact.. NEITHER of them will have the needed delegates for a nominations.. SO .. the Superdelagates are there SPECIFICALLY to make that decision..

Now one school of thought would be to go with the 'will of the people'.. If you're going to do that, what about Florida and Michigan? does their voice not matter? You see, no matter what you say it's not cut and dry...

Obama has managed to win the southern states, but in a general election, there's not a snowball's chance in hell that he's going to win them... so what's left? Ok.. As you say he'll probably pick up NY, NJ and California, but what about Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio and FLorida?

All of this is the JOB of the superedelegates.. this is the system we have in place.. They have to consider all the information at hand and make a choice as to who has the best chance of beating McCain in the Fall.. Personally I think Hilary does. Race is going to be a major issue, and to be so blind as to not take that into account and believe we've all entered into a state of utopia is a tad on the ridiculous side.. Moreover, Obama is not a fighter.. he's wimpy, and his speech making which in the beginning was fairly strong now seems redundant and weary..

Now all of this being said, I don't think the Superdelegates would have the guts to nominate Hil.. SO.. I think you're guy will surely win the nomination.. However, to believe that he'll win in a general, with Reverend Wright, shady real estate deals, and his perceived anti-american elitist attitude.. going up against a war hero? I don't think so.. That's why I resent him.. and that's why I resent democrats that have forced this hand..

There's something to be said for seeing the big picture. no matter how offensive it might be to delicate sensibilities..