2012: Let's Try Democracy
So, in case you've been in a coma: America's not a very democratic place. Our system of primaries and caucuses is absurd. Fortunately, the closeness of the Democratic race may spur our elected and party officials to take a hard look at the circus they're running.
First, the completely arbitrary, nonsensical scheduling: Iowa and New Hampshire called dibs on being the first caucus and primary back in the 1950s, and for some reason we're honoring that? The schedule is justified as a way to let less-known candidates generate momentum, but that doesn't hold water. Over the last few election cycles, it's apparent that we're moving into a post-geographic political world. Face-to-face campaigning doesn't drive politics anymore. The internet drives communication, fundraising and momentum; just ask Howard Dean, Ron Paul, Mike Huckabee, Fred Thompson, Jim Webb, Ned Lamont and others. Calling dibs is not democratic.
Secondly: caucuses? Seriously? Is this 1774? Townhall meetings with complicated rules, public voting and systematic peer pressure? If you're late, you can't vote. If you can't hang out for 3 or 4 hours, you can't vote. In Texas, if you didn't vote in the primary, you can't caucus. Caucuses favor the wealthy, the unemployed and the college crowd because they have the leisure time required to participate. They had a word for that sort of politics in the 1700s: mob-rule. Caucuses are not democratic.
Colorado switched to a caucus after the "Why bother" primary of 2000, to save $2.2 million on the election; they're rethinking that decision now. In the 2000 primary, when Bush and Gore had already locked up the nominations, 260,000 voted. In 2008, in the most contested primary season in a generation drew only about 190,000 caucus-goers. Systematically reducing voter participation is not democratic.
The irony is that - even after the tantrum they threw after the 2000 Election Debacle - the Democratic Party is the much less democratic one. In a futile attempt to cling to the absurd primary schedule, the Democratic National Committee has disenfranchised five million voters in Michigan and Florida. And they've created specifically un-democratic superdelegates to bring a little smoke into the backroom.
No matter which candidate you support, democracy is a core American value. We must demand the Parties put an end to this patently un-American system of choosing presidential nominees. The reforms that come out of this year should ban caucuses, establish a national primary day (or at least a rotational system by region) and abolish super-delegates. That would be democratic.
caucus, florida, michigan, democracy, super-delegates
