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Why Do We Continue to Let the Media Decide Who Our Nominees Are?
The primary and caucus process is a complicated system to understand. Mysterious, confusing and downright looney at times, this age old practice of choosing who the candidates for president will be sends most of us into a tailspin of confusion. Enter the media…
The media “helpfully” tells us who the leaders are, who to ignore, who, to pay attention to and who they think will win. Leaving us feeling as though our states primary or caucus is pointless and will not matter in the decision. The problem with that is that it isn’t true. Let’s look at the math on both sides of the aisle. This isn’t a partisan issue, this is an American issue, because it’s happening on both sides.
The Democrats
Delegates available: 4049
Delegates needed to gain nomination: 2025
Current delegates won:
Hillary Clinton: 218
Barack Obama: 127
John Edwards: 53
Dennis Kucinich: 1
Total delegates decided: 386
These totals aren’t as significant until you assign percentages to those totals. Of all the delegates available, only 10% have been assigned. 10%!
Yet, our media has all but decided that this is a 2 person race. Forget that Edwards has 3% of the delegates needed to win the nomination, his goose is cooked. Same with Kucinich, even though he has only 1 delegate, there are still 3663 delegates still undecided. It’s over according to the media, you have only 2 choices, and of course, they don’t have any bias, right?!
The Republicans
Delegates available: 2380
Delegates needed to gain nomination: 1191
Current Delegates Won:
Mitt Romney: 72
John McCain: 38
Mike Huckabee: 29
Fred Thompson: 8
Ron Paul: 6
Rudy Guiliani: 2
Of the 2380 delegates available, only 7 % have been decided. Yet according to the media, Guiliani is toast, Thompson may as well hang it up and why bother voting in your primary because we’re telling ya, McCain has it in the bag. Ron Paul? He doesn’t exist.
Why should we care? Just look at the candidates in the past few elections. How many of us thought that they weren’t the candidates that we would have chosen? How many of us didn’t participate in the primaries and caucuses because, it was already decided and our votes wouldn’t matter anyway? I mean CNN, MSNBC and FOXNews were telling us that it was all over but the balloons. But, was it?
It MATTERS. Barack Obama won Iowa. What does that mean? Did you know that he may have “won Iowa” but, Clinton received 18 delegates, Obama received 18 delegates and Edwards received 17 delegates. So, how exactly does that equate to a win? Popular vote. Obama received more popular votes, but even in this process, like the general election, it doesn’t matter. It’s the delegates that matter.
It’s even more apparent in the New Hampshire primary. Clinton may have “won New Hampshire” but Obama received more delegates. Clinton won 11, Obama 12 and Edwards 4. Who won? You tell me.
So why do we continue to allow the media to tell us who our candidate will be? Is it laziness? Confusion about the process? Indifference?
When your primary or caucus time comes around, don’t let the media tell you who to vote for, or that it’s all but decided. Pay attention, make your choice AND let your voice be heard. Vote for the candidate that you think will make the difference you’re looking for.
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