Democratic Primaries Threatened by Outbreak of Democracy-"An absolute cluster-f***"

[Hart2008]

Democratic Primaries Threatened by Outbreak of Democracy
Sean Carman | Bio

Democratic Primaries Threatened by Outbreak of Democracy

Democratic party leaders voiced concern today about the Democratic primary process, which they said was "gravely threatened" by recent developments.

Speaking on background, party leaders said those developments included a close contest that might not be decided until the convention this summer and that, in the meantime, threatened to ignite vast public interest in the campaign, drive record numbers of voters to the polls, and produce the most inclusive Democratic primary contest in a generation.

"It's a complete disaster," one party insider said. "Absolutely the last thing we wanted."

Even more worrisome, party insiders confided, is the prospect that the establishment candidate will not win the nomination, but will instead be defeated by a challenger on the basis of, of all things, the popular vote in the 50 states.
...

Instead, he explained, the results are being increasingly determined by the results of the popular vote in each state.

...

In an even more dire scenario spelled out by some in the Democratic party, this process could involve delegates assigned to other candidates, and those left unassigned by the primary process, voting on the basis of speeches given by the candidates at the convention, or their considered judgments of the candidates' policy positions and ability to lead the country.

And all of this could be played out on national television, broadcasting the democratic selection of the Democratic candidate to the millions of people who will vote in the general election in the fall.

"Just imagine," one party operative said, "an entire nation watching in rapt attention as the candidates explain to the country why they deserve the nomination, and locally elected delegates from all walks of American life select a nominee on the basis of the popular vote and their judgments of who will make the best candidate."

The operative shook his head in disbelief. "An absolute cluster-f***" he said.

http://www.236.com/blog/w/sean_carman/democratic_primaries_threatend_4285.php

[Debi]

1. K & R n/t

[Bluzmann57]

2. Democracy? We certainly can't have that now, can we?

What a novel concept. Add my K and R to this thread.

[Hart2008]

14. They may need to go to the Supreme Court to stop it. n/t

[Xipe Totec]

3. Too funny!

:rofl:

[Adelante]

4. I love it!

:D

[Hart2008]

18. Yes, they planned for this to be over by now, and it isn't. n/t

[andyrowe]

5. Oh man.

That's funny. :rofl:

[Az_lefty]

6. ha ha ha....

:kick:

[Schema Thing]

7. Gotta kick this one!

[TexasObserver]

8. DLC's Al From admitted to ER for what was described as "an unusually large bug up his ass"

[Hart2008]

13. Doctors have determined that was his head. n/t

[Political Heretic]

9. Hahahaha! Great !

[Yael]

10. So I went to an election and democracy broke out

:rofl:

[Hart2008]

15. Exactly! Got to love it!

[flyarm]

11. they could have avoided this if they hadn't shoved Edwards out the door! eom

[Hart2008]

12. More like they were trying to avoid this.

If Edwards had continued actively campaigning up to Super Tuesday there would be even more delegates not aligned with the top two. Edwards voters purportedly broke 2-1 for Obama. So Obama has benefited more, but his staying in wouldn't have guaranteed that Hillary had enough delegates to clinch the nomination.

What changes is that had Clinton received the plurality, (not majority) of the votes, then pressure would have been applied to the super delegates to nominate Hillary based upon her plurality of pledged delegates, etc. The likely result now is that the superdelegates will have to choose from the top two, or veto the top two and open the voting up to a second round where anything goes.

Pledged delegates are only pledged for the first round.

A second round of voting at the convention could lead to Edwards, or someone else, receiving the nomination.

:dem::wow::wow::wow::wow::dem::wow::wow::wow::wow::dem::wow::wow::wow::wow::dem::wow::wow::wow::wow::dem::wow::wow::wow::wow::dem::wow::wow::wow::wow::dem:

[jakem]

16. sadly, took me a minute to catch the joke-

not sure if this reflects me, or the political system...

[Hart2008]

17. It's the system. n/t

[workinclasszero]

19. Loved It!

Something funny happened on the way to the coranation...:rofl:

[Hart2008]

20. I aim to please- And while the Queen was looking down, the people stole her corporate crown! n/t