When Will the Party End?
Published May 10th, 2007And by “party” - I mean your political party. And mine. And everyone else’s. Why is it that in America, Land of Individualism, we’re so obsessed with categorization and party lines? Doesn’t it bother anyone that you as an individual are represented by a “party”? I dunno. It bothers me. I hate my party. I didn’t even want to be a Democrat but as a non-partisan it was too much of a hassle voting in primary elections. I may have a (D) next to my name, but I don’t internally identify as one. So a friend linked me today to story that once again has pointed out the stupidity (to me anyway) of the party system. I have ranted on it before, but once again - parties have to go. They’re contrary to getting anything done, and they don’t represent anyone but the party leaders.
Today’s story of interest comes from the wild and wacky state of Florida. You see, there’s a “better than 50-50 chance” that if you’re a Democrat in Florida and you vote in the January primary, your vote WILL NOT COUNT FOR CRAP. Yep. Your vote will be a non-binding recommendation to the party leaders, who will go ahead and pledge delagates at the convention to whomever they want. Maybe they’ll pick who “won” Florida. Maybe they won’t. Who knows!
This once again goes back to how the voting system is broken and how the 2 party “monopoly” (some might say they’re close enough to pretty much be one party) screws voters over again and again. You see, they’ve all made deals on when the primaries are supposed to take place. New Hampshire and Iowa are already having hissy-fits over other states moving up their primaries. And in a sort of primary arms race, even MORE states started moving up their primaries. The primaries are now incredibly front-loaded, diminishing the importance of who wins Iowa and New Hampshire.
Which is good, why the HELL are 2 mostly white rural states choosing our de-facto presidential candidates before, oh 95%, of the country has a say? It’s ridiculous. So I’m saying - you know what? Forget moving primaries nearer to the NH and IA primaries - just have a national primary. Yeah small states will complain “but then candidates will never come to my state and campaign!” So what? There’s 300 million people in this country - the president should be speaking to all of them. We live in an age of telecommunication - how about we use it? Have town halls via videoconference. A candidate can speak to any state at any time along the trail. He could be in Montana speaking to people from South Carolina. No, he can’t shake your hand - but like any of them really want to kiss your baby. And they’re so covered in Secret Service (is it still too soon to call them SS?) agents, they barely actually touch anyone anymore anyway. He will govern from a small patch of land on the east coast for 4 years anyway. If you won’t vote for someone because he doesn’t travel to your little one-well town, you’re an idiot.
But I’m digressing, as usual. Point is, the party masters are levying penalties against Florida for moving their primary too far up, in violation of the rules. The rules. So voters’ votes won’t count. The primary was moved up by the majority Rs in the state legislature. The Elephant penalties are far weaker than the Donkey penalties, so they don’t care. So lets just make sure we understand this: The Democratic Leaders (who represent Democrats) are going to punish Democrat voters (in Florida) for something their Republican legislature did without consulting them (or any voter, as far as I can tell). Wow. That makes a LOT of sense. Who comes up with these rules? My head is about to explode. It makes no goddamn sense!
No more parties - they’re taking AWAY the voice of the voters. This is just the most blatant example I’ve ever seen. No more primary rounds - make it national. We choose the president with a nat’l election, we can choose candidates the same way. These people aren’t campaigning from the backs of trains or on buses anymore - well some are, but only because they’re 100 years old and have never heard of the internet or a video feed. It’s time to move into the next century. Recognize that the nation is too big and too populous for a fraction of a fraction to pre-choose our candidates, and that modern campaigning should speak to everyone equally. Because the President should represent everyone equally. Not just those in early primary states, not just those in populous states, not just those in his party. Everyone.
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