As consistent readers of mine should know by now, I hope to see Donald Trump become president like I would hope to wake up next to a drunken Lorena Bobbitt holding a machete in one hand and an angry skunk in the other. For as much as I tend to disagree with the GOP front-runner, however, I do have to say he's right about one thing - the election process not being very democratic.
Let's think about this for a moment here. The Republican and Democratic Parties nominate their presidential representatives, not according to votes, but according to delegates. There have been occasions, including during this election cycle, where a candidate with more votes gets fewer delegates than his or her opponent. If no candidate reaches a particular number of delegates by time of their party's convention, it's possible the delegate leader will not win the nomination, and not only that, it's possible a politician whom didn't even run for the Oval Office throughout the primaries will become the party's nominee for the November election. We also have the superdelegates, which can add up to roughly 7% and 15% of the total delegates needed for the Republican and Democratic nominees, respectively. For Democrats, one superdelegate is equivalent to approximately 10,000 votes. Yeah, let that sink in for a moment... Not only that, but in the general election, due to the electoral college, it's possible for a candidate to win the popular vote yet lose the election (just ask Al Gore). This isn't even taking the Citizens United ruling in consideration, which has exacerbated the problem of spending by large corporations and donors during election season, influencing people's hearts and politicians' decisions in the process. Lastly, conservative politicians are continuing to try and make it more difficult for people to vote on election day, especially minorities and college students.
So, what is a democracy? Here in the U.S. it's a place that: Tries decreasing voter turnout, tries increasing the influence of the wealthiest, often doesn't believe one person = one vote, and where the people don't necessarily decide. Yeah, before we try "spreading democracy" to other parts of the world, let's try fixing our own here...
(Sidenote: Party representatives also need to cut it out with the "these-have-been-the-rules" nonsense. They make it sound like rules are absolute, are always for the better good, and can never be changed. I'm sorry, but that's BS. Republican politicians often like to label the United States as the freest country in the world, yet support election "rules" which showcase otherwise. So, what's it going to be?)
http://www.politifact.com/new-hampshire/statements/2016/mar/18/new-hampshire-republican-party/nhgop-says-superdelegates-have-power-wipe-out-resu/
http://www.poynter.org/2016/heres-what-journalists-need-to-know-about-superdelegates/396248/
Let's think about this for a moment here. The Republican and Democratic Parties nominate their presidential representatives, not according to votes, but according to delegates. There have been occasions, including during this election cycle, where a candidate with more votes gets fewer delegates than his or her opponent. If no candidate reaches a particular number of delegates by time of their party's convention, it's possible the delegate leader will not win the nomination, and not only that, it's possible a politician whom didn't even run for the Oval Office throughout the primaries will become the party's nominee for the November election. We also have the superdelegates, which can add up to roughly 7% and 15% of the total delegates needed for the Republican and Democratic nominees, respectively. For Democrats, one superdelegate is equivalent to approximately 10,000 votes. Yeah, let that sink in for a moment... Not only that, but in the general election, due to the electoral college, it's possible for a candidate to win the popular vote yet lose the election (just ask Al Gore). This isn't even taking the Citizens United ruling in consideration, which has exacerbated the problem of spending by large corporations and donors during election season, influencing people's hearts and politicians' decisions in the process. Lastly, conservative politicians are continuing to try and make it more difficult for people to vote on election day, especially minorities and college students.
So, what is a democracy? Here in the U.S. it's a place that: Tries decreasing voter turnout, tries increasing the influence of the wealthiest, often doesn't believe one person = one vote, and where the people don't necessarily decide. Yeah, before we try "spreading democracy" to other parts of the world, let's try fixing our own here...
(Sidenote: Party representatives also need to cut it out with the "these-have-been-the-rules" nonsense. They make it sound like rules are absolute, are always for the better good, and can never be changed. I'm sorry, but that's BS. Republican politicians often like to label the United States as the freest country in the world, yet support election "rules" which showcase otherwise. So, what's it going to be?)
http://www.politifact.com/new-hampshire/statements/2016/mar/18/new-hampshire-republican-party/nhgop-says-superdelegates-have-power-wipe-out-resu/
http://www.poynter.org/2016/heres-what-journalists-need-to-know-about-superdelegates/396248/
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