Note: As I write this the Super Tuesday results are not known, because people are still voting.
I got my Washington State 2008 Presidential Primary Voter’s Guide in the mail. So you would think I would be excited about voting in a Democratic Primary where my vote just might mean something. But NOOO! The Democratic Party has decided to ignore the results of our Primary vote this year. Our primary vote is just a beauty contest. If I want to participate in choosing the Democratic Presidential Nominee, I will have to participate in the party’s private caucus system.
So the Obama campaign was holding a Caucus Training Session last Saturday. Evelyn was kind enough to make phone calls to get details and we went to the event. Apparently the most “democratic” process the Democratic Party could come up with is as follows:
1. Ignore the voter-mandated Primary Election results entirely.
2. Hold poorly advertised Precinct Caucuses the week before the election.
3. Make it difficult for people to find their Caucus location and then hold them in completely different locations than normal elections are held (and in our case three-times as far away.)
4. Make sure that everyone who does participate in the Caucus has to declare who they are supporting publicly and then give plenty of time for enthusiasts to try and convince people to switch over and support a different candidate at the last minute.
5. Insist that delegates are selected at the Precinct Caucus who are willing and able to travel to the Legislative District Caucuses to be held in April.
6. At the Legislative District Caucuses the Precinct Delegates elect Legislative Delegates who must be willing and able to travel to the Congressional District Caucuses in May.
7. At the Congressional District Caucuses Delegates will select Delegates who will travel to the State Convention in June.
8. At the State Convention, Delegates from the Congressional District Caucuses will select Delegates to represent Washington State Democrats at the National Convention in August.
9. At the National Convention the National Delegates will select a candidate that the rest of us will be able to vote for in the General Election in November.
10. And Oh, by the way, 20% of the National Delegates for Washington have already been appointed as Super Delegates.
11. And the Delegates from any level can change their minds and candidate affiliation at the next level. So the will of the original participants can be completely ignored if desired by the Party Insiders who are most likely to be selected as delegates for the next level.
12. Rinse, Lather, Repeat until any normal citizen with a real life is too frustrated to want to participate in selecting the next president of the country.
Confused? I am, and I am a bit of a political junky. Party rules dictate delegate selection. Party rules dictate the numbers of delegates in each precinct and at each level. And when asked why such an undemocratic process is being used, the local Party Officers said, “It would take all day to answer all of your questions.” And, “That is just the way it is.”
We were not encouraged to ask questions about the process. Instead we were encouraged to “Watch people sign in and see who they commit to so you can influence people to switch to our candidate.”
The Washington Republican Party rules are different. They are using the Primary Election results to appoint 51% of their delegates, and apparently they allow Caucus participants to drop the name of the candidate they support anonymously into a hat. I have to say that the Washington State Republicans are at least more accommodating to ordinary citizen participation and they don’t have the troubling peer pressure problems in their system. Although they do allow their party faithful to participate twice (Caucus one week and Vote the next.) But the Democratic Party process seems very undemocratic to me. And although I think Obama is the best Tweedle-Dee left in the system, and I will go Caucus as if it mattered on Saturday, I think the Democratic Party should be forced to use a more democratic process or else change their name to the Back Room Delegate Party.
I have also found out that the rules vary widely from state to state. But the bottom line is that the Parties have the ultimate say on how the process is set up and conducted. The Mainstream Media isn’t calling much attention to the actual rules of the process. And you and I are encouraged to just do our little part and quit worrying. Don’t worry your pretty little head about it. The Party Officials will make sure everything works out okay. Just go home and watch the results on cable news where they hope you don’t notice that they don’t really talk about candidates or issues directly—they talk about talking about people who talk about issues that people and candidates might talk about right after the next commercial break.
Hey, speaking of advertisements, did you see the ad with the screaming squirrel!!! My kids loved that one… I'm not sure which political metaphor from the commercial to apply to our party primary situation. I don't know if I am a squirrel or just nuts...
I got my Washington State 2008 Presidential Primary Voter’s Guide in the mail. So you would think I would be excited about voting in a Democratic Primary where my vote just might mean something. But NOOO! The Democratic Party has decided to ignore the results of our Primary vote this year. Our primary vote is just a beauty contest. If I want to participate in choosing the Democratic Presidential Nominee, I will have to participate in the party’s private caucus system.
So the Obama campaign was holding a Caucus Training Session last Saturday. Evelyn was kind enough to make phone calls to get details and we went to the event. Apparently the most “democratic” process the Democratic Party could come up with is as follows:
1. Ignore the voter-mandated Primary Election results entirely.
2. Hold poorly advertised Precinct Caucuses the week before the election.
3. Make it difficult for people to find their Caucus location and then hold them in completely different locations than normal elections are held (and in our case three-times as far away.)
4. Make sure that everyone who does participate in the Caucus has to declare who they are supporting publicly and then give plenty of time for enthusiasts to try and convince people to switch over and support a different candidate at the last minute.
5. Insist that delegates are selected at the Precinct Caucus who are willing and able to travel to the Legislative District Caucuses to be held in April.
6. At the Legislative District Caucuses the Precinct Delegates elect Legislative Delegates who must be willing and able to travel to the Congressional District Caucuses in May.
7. At the Congressional District Caucuses Delegates will select Delegates who will travel to the State Convention in June.
8. At the State Convention, Delegates from the Congressional District Caucuses will select Delegates to represent Washington State Democrats at the National Convention in August.
9. At the National Convention the National Delegates will select a candidate that the rest of us will be able to vote for in the General Election in November.
10. And Oh, by the way, 20% of the National Delegates for Washington have already been appointed as Super Delegates.
11. And the Delegates from any level can change their minds and candidate affiliation at the next level. So the will of the original participants can be completely ignored if desired by the Party Insiders who are most likely to be selected as delegates for the next level.
12. Rinse, Lather, Repeat until any normal citizen with a real life is too frustrated to want to participate in selecting the next president of the country.
Confused? I am, and I am a bit of a political junky. Party rules dictate delegate selection. Party rules dictate the numbers of delegates in each precinct and at each level. And when asked why such an undemocratic process is being used, the local Party Officers said, “It would take all day to answer all of your questions.” And, “That is just the way it is.”
We were not encouraged to ask questions about the process. Instead we were encouraged to “Watch people sign in and see who they commit to so you can influence people to switch to our candidate.”
The Washington Republican Party rules are different. They are using the Primary Election results to appoint 51% of their delegates, and apparently they allow Caucus participants to drop the name of the candidate they support anonymously into a hat. I have to say that the Washington State Republicans are at least more accommodating to ordinary citizen participation and they don’t have the troubling peer pressure problems in their system. Although they do allow their party faithful to participate twice (Caucus one week and Vote the next.) But the Democratic Party process seems very undemocratic to me. And although I think Obama is the best Tweedle-Dee left in the system, and I will go Caucus as if it mattered on Saturday, I think the Democratic Party should be forced to use a more democratic process or else change their name to the Back Room Delegate Party.
I have also found out that the rules vary widely from state to state. But the bottom line is that the Parties have the ultimate say on how the process is set up and conducted. The Mainstream Media isn’t calling much attention to the actual rules of the process. And you and I are encouraged to just do our little part and quit worrying. Don’t worry your pretty little head about it. The Party Officials will make sure everything works out okay. Just go home and watch the results on cable news where they hope you don’t notice that they don’t really talk about candidates or issues directly—they talk about talking about people who talk about issues that people and candidates might talk about right after the next commercial break.
Hey, speaking of advertisements, did you see the ad with the screaming squirrel!!! My kids loved that one… I'm not sure which political metaphor from the commercial to apply to our party primary situation. I don't know if I am a squirrel or just nuts...
2 comments:
Jay - Don't forget we are picking the Democratic party's candidate for the general election - not the president. I think the party should be able to determine how that's done, and try to ensure it is decided by people in the party, not just anyone.
The people get to choose come the general election.
Now don't get me wrong, I'd prefer a closed primary to our caucus system so that more people can participate, because not everyone is inclined to the exposure of a caucus system.
You could compare the process to the parliamentary systems in other countries in which the party leader becomes prime minister if their party wins more seats. No direct elections there either.
The big issue is the electoral college. That has to go.
Anyway, enjoy the caucus and get there early - it could get crowded this year!
That's a snazzy Mock Presidential Primary logo you've got there. Are you a graphic arteeest?
Washington kids can vote in their own Primary. Neat idea.
http://www.secstate.wa.gov/elections/outreach/mockprimary.aspx
Post a Comment