September 5th / 7th, 2008
"The Not-So-Democratic Convention"
Not to beat a dead horse, but the so-called Democratic convention was over
before it began for two reasons: Florida and Michigan.
After Hillary won both contests, Barack Obama fought hard to disenfranchise
voters in the Sunshine and Wolverine states.
Had those votes counted, democrats would have traveled to Denver with their
two leading candidates in a virtual dead heat among pledged delegates, and
Hillary would have opened up her lead in the overall popular vote.
And, had Michigan and Florida counted, you wouldn’t have seen super
delegates and others abandoning Hillary. Translation, Clinton actually deserved the
nomination.
Instead the democrats ended up with the two most hypocritical candidates in
recent memory. Both Obama and Biden claim to favor inclusion, yet both have
stood for exclusion throughout their careers. In a previous column I
elaborated on how Obama managed to disqualify every opponent he faced from the time
he ran for State Senate until now.
And then there’s Joe Biden who voted for NAFTA which has displaced millions
of blue collar workers, and, earlier this year stood side by side with George
Bush to enact Bankruptcy Reform legislation, which makes it more difficult
for people facing financial troubles to get back on their feet.
So, why did Biden vote against the common man? Because Delaware is the
state of incorporation for most of the credit card companies in America, and
their influence insured Biden’s support for their unethical treatment of
customers.
Adding to the hypocrisy, it was Biden who announced earlier this year that
Obama was not ready to be President, but that John McCain was.
Barack should have picked Hillary as his running mate, and he would have
coasted into the White House. Now, he faces a close contest in a year in which
democrats should have won in a landslide.
If all this isn’t insulting enough, U.S. taxpayers learned after the fact
that we paid for the conventions being held in Denver and St Paul.
That’s right, millions of struggling Americans checked off a box on their
tax return which they thought was going to help candidates of lesser means get their
message out during primary season. Instead, $34 million dollars was earmarked
for convention goers of both political parties to have a fun time nominating
candidates who already had the nominations sewn up.
Presidential candidates used to be chosen in smoke-filled halls on second
and third ballots after days of arm twisting. It was a system that excluded
Americans from helping to choose a nominee. Today, we may vote in primaries,
but our votes don’t really count because delegates and super delegates can
switch allegiances without consequence. Then, our votes in November get
scuttled by the electoral college. The old way was bad, and so is the new way.
It is time to finally get rid of super delegates and the electoral college
in one fell swoop.
Both major parties are to blame for the political and economic mess we’re
in, but it is particularly disappointing to have watched as the Democrats
showed themselves to be so un-democratic at every turn. From the way delegates
were chosen, to the way the convention was paid for, to the way in which Obama
stole the nomination from Hillary, and the way in which Barack selected a
co-hypocrite as his Vice President.
Having said that, I still feel fortunate that I’ve lived long enough to
witness a woman and a man of color grapple for the highest office in the land.
And I am proud that an African American might finally occupy the White House
(I supported Colin Powell in 2000). That Barack and the Dems are partly to
blame for the sorry state of affairs in this country, in no way diminishes
his remarkable journey. So, I might just break down and vote for Obama on
November 4. On the other hand, I might punish him for not putting Hillary on the
ticket, and I’ll reward McCain for selecting a woman as his running mate.
Or maybe I’ll just stick with Ralph Nader. It’s going to be an interesting
couple of months.
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