The Nation: Will Democracy Win?

[marmar]

editorial | posted March 6, 2008 (March 24, 2008 issue)
Will Democracy Win?



Hillary Clinton's commanding Democratic primary victories in Ohio and Rhode Island and her narrow win in Texas sent a gust of wind into the sagging sails of her presidential campaign. However, her chances of securing the party's nomination in a democratically uncompromised manner are slim. Even if she were to win all twelve of the remaining primaries and caucuses by significant margins--a highly improbable development--Barack Obama would still retain the lead in pledged delegates. For Clinton to win, superdelegates would have to tip the nomination her way--against the express will of the majority of Democratic voters. Or her campaign would have to succeed in seating delegates from Florida and Michigan--in violation of mutually agreed-upon primary rules. Or both. That, for Clinton supporters, is the unhappy reality.

Adding to the tension of this moment for all Democrats is the knowledge that scorched-earth tactics are at least partly responsible for Clinton's success on Super Tuesday II. Through its fearmongering over terrorism and national security and by taking advantage of smear campaigns against Obama's patriotism, race and religion, the Clinton campaign has already sunk fairly low--but it could very well sink lower, threatening to negate the early promise of this historic contest, which has seen a massive spike in voter turnout, particularly among the young and minorities, and the enthusiastic rise of progressive values and issues. If the campaign continues this descent during the long slog to Pennsylvania on April 22 and beyond, the ultimate benefactor may well be neither small d-democracy nor the Democratic Party--but Senator John McCain and the GOP, who no doubt will spend the time taking notes and sharpening knives. Given the electoral challenge it faces, the Clinton camp ought to think long and hard about how it chooses to wage the remainder of this campaign.

Still, the Clinton campaign isn't doing anything the right won't do if Obama is the nominee, so his campaign could benefit from learning how to take this punch and counterpunch. And Obama has been fair game for some of Clinton's attacks: on NAFTA, for instance, his campaign's fuzziness--embodied by the embarrassing spectacle of top adviser Austan Goolsbee telling Canadians not to take seriously the candidate's tough talk about renegotiating the agreement--has created a vulnerability that Clinton has every right to exploit.

This magazine has endorsed Barack Obama, and we continue to believe his candidacy represents the best chance to forge a new progressive majority. But we also believe that all voters--including those in Puerto Rico, who vote last, on June 7--should have the chance to decide for themselves. For this process to unfold fairly and be of continuing value to party and country, two steps must be taken. ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080324/editors

[mmonk]

1. Seems greed and power always ends up the winner

Look around the world as well as our shattered constitution and over a million dead since 2000.

[Demeter]

2. The Odds Are Against It

And that's because democracy has been losing for decades in the US, eroding like a California hillside in a heavy rain.

None of the forces that would rebuild American democratic instincts are strong enough to overcome the home-court advantage that the greedy thugs enjoy.

[Demeter]

3. Scorched Earth? More Like Dirty Tricks

Perpetrated within the Hillary campaign and from the other side of the aisle.

[Benhurst]

4. It's going to be almost impossible for democracy to win since the

whole Democratic party process is not based upon it. Caucuses, delegate allocations in which the winner gets fewer delegates than the loser, and super delegates on hand to overrule the decision of the voters or push a candidate who fails to reach the agreed upon 2025 over the threshold, are hardly democratic.

Our two leading candidates and their followers who are crying foul over a system they failed to object to or change, are now stuck in a nightmare of their own creation.

Win or lose, November 5, 2008, we need to begin bringing democracy to the process through which we select our candidates, or we are going find ourselves in the same mess in 2012.